Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told ABC News on Sunday that the 2020 "was fair, as fair as we have seen," and President Biden legitimately won the presidency.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who's had his own run-in with Trump over the 2020 election, welcomed his fellow South Dakotan to the attacked-by-Trump club.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) issued his own statement, listing other Republicans who have acknowledged Biden's victory.
Trump regularly rages against Republicans he sees as insufficiently loyal to him, and that has been hard on his GOP targets in the House, where Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sides with the former president. Senators have fared better, though Trump's ire is typically shared and amplified by his ardent supporters. Trump said Thune's "political career is over!!!" in December 2020, but Thune is heavily favored to win re-election this year.
Later Monday, Rounds issued his own response to "the former president," reiterating that "the former president lost the 2022 election" and lauding Vice President Mike Pence's "integrity" for standing his ground and acknowledging "President Biden's victory."
NBC's Sahil Kapur adds some context to the fight and notes that Rounds won't face voters again until 2026.
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeezeTHE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
