Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said on Sunday that he would not support the GOP nominee for president if he wasn’t South Carolina Senator. Rounds has endorsed Tim Scott.
NBC News’ Chuck Todd asked Rounds during an interview for “Meet the Press” if he’d support “whoever the Republicans nominated, even if [former president Donald Trump].”
Rounds expressed his hope that Scott would secure the Republican nomination in 2024, but he said he’d need to “reassess,” if not.
He said, “I’m hoping that it will be Tim Scott.” “And if not, I will have to reassess my position because I always supported the Republican candidate in the past.”
He added, “I hope Tim will be the nominee.” “There will be other good people, too. But I’m going to hold back my comments until we see how Tim does.”
Rounds was asked by Todd if the reason why he is not supporting Trump’s nomination is because of the legal issues that he faces. He replied: “Not really — I think there are many very good Republican candidates out there.”
He added, “I’ll wait to see who wins. I’ve always supported the Republican candidate.”
Scott, the sole Black Republican senator, , announced his bid for the presidency in late July, joining the rapidly growing number of GOP candidates looking to take on Trump. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, announced his presidential bid last month. He joined a rapidly growing field of GOP hopefuls looking to challenge Trump.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D. ), the Senate Republican No. Scott’s support was also expressed by John Thune, R-S.D., the No.
Rounds has repeatedly called out Trump’s false claim of a stolen presidential election in 2020, and suggested previously that lawmakers seeking to unite Republicans may be looking for a Trump-alternative in 2024.
Last month, Trump made remarks on CNN about the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, 2021. During the town hall, the former president described the riot as “a beautiful day.”
Rounds responded to Trump’s remarks during the CNN townhall by saying, “The vast majority that was here on Jan. 6, would clearly disagree with his approach in this regard.” There are some things we agree with, but we also have differences in other areas.
