Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said Sunday he does not know if former President Trump could beat President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 general election rematch at this point in the campaign, saying that’s one of his concerns.
“We don’t know. We don’t know. That’s one of the concerns that a lot of people have got — me, as well,” Rounds told Dana Bash when asked in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“It’s the reason why I think if we bring in a uniter, rather than a divider, I think we’ve got a better shot at doing what’s right for this country long term. And that’s what I want,” Rounds added.
Rounds doubled down on his support for his Senate colleague, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), in the 2024 presidential primary.
He criticized the former president for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, but would not say explicitly whether he would back the former president if he were convicted of a crime and wins the party’s nomination.
“I’m hoping truly that we get to the point where I don’t have to make that type of a decision,” Rounds said when asked whether he’d back Trump in 2024.
When pressed, Rounds said, “For me personally, I was there. I was there on January 6, I saw what happened. I’m not happy about what happened. I was not happy with his performance on that particular day,” referring to Trump.
“So for me, I’m hoping that we’re going to be able to look at other candidates. For mine, it’s Tim Scott. Tim is the guy that I think can unite this country,” Rounds added.
Trump is currently facing four criminal indictments, two of which are related to his efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election in 2020. He holds a commanding lead in 2024 GOP primary polls, showing in a recent CNN poll of polls that he received 58 percent of support among GOP voters.