Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, of South Dakota, said on Sunday that Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 elections are “unfounded” and urged the GOP to stop trying to shield the former president from prosecution, saying he’s not above the law.
During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Rounds made it clear that he didn’t subscribe to Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen from him.
“As a part of our due diligence, we looked at over 60 different accusations made in multiple states. While there were some irregularities, there were none of the irregularities which would have risen to the point where they would have changed the vote outcome in a single state,“ he said.
“The election was fair, as fair as we have seen,“ he added.
“If we simply look back and tell our people, ‘Don’t vote because there’s cheating going on,’ then we’re going to put ourselves in a huge disadvantage,” he continued. “So, moving forward, let’s focus on what it takes to win those elections. We can do that.“
Rounds also said former President Donald Trump’s fate should be left in the hands of the Department of Justice and the federal courts over his role in allegedly inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, pointing out that he no longer president and is not exempt from prosecution if the Justice Department had a reason to do so.
“That shield of the presidency does not exist for someone who is a former president,“ he said.
Watch videos of the interview below:
“As a part of our due diligence, we looked at over 60 different accusations made in multiple states…The election was fair, as fair as we've seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency,” GOP Sen. Mike Rounds says. https://t.co/ANIQaIEzzo pic.twitter.com/DY2PW2d3qs
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 10, 2022
Republican @SenatorRounds tells @GStephanopoulos that former Pres. Trump's fate should be left in the hands of the Department of Justice and federal courts.
"The courts are the appropriate place where those questions should be answered." https://t.co/jHS4IXc5OE pic.twitter.com/wTD47YRGsA
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 9, 2022
