Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) would not commit to backing the 2024 GOP nominee if it’s not Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
“Right now, I’m hoping it’s gonna be Tim Scott. And if it’s not, then I’m gonna have to reassess because I’ve always supported the Republican nominee in the past,” Rounds told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. “There are going to be some other good people as well, but I’m gonna hold that back until we find out how Tim does.”
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Rounds emphasized that he’s hopeful he can back the GOP nominee in 2024, but Scott is the candidate he knows he can back.
Scott entered the 2024 race last month and is presently running in sixth place in the GOP race, per the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate. He is also backed by Rounds’s colleague, Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), the No. 2 Senate Republican.
“I think when people hear him speak, they’re going to hear that same ability to convince people that there really is a brighter time ahead for our country, and that he can bring people together. And that’s the reason why a lot of us are going to end up supporting Tim,” Rounds further explained.
Rounds likened Scott’s optimistic message to former President Ronald Reagan. He emphasized that it’s “really early right now” and contended that “Tim has got a real good shot at it.”
“We suspected that it would get crowded, but at the same time, there’s a weeding out process that gives the American people a chance to look at all the alternatives. A lot of us think that it’s time for somebody with a positive message,” he explained.
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Rounds also opened up about the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the compromise measure to suspend the debt limit in exchange for spending growth reductions that President Joe Biden signed Saturday. He surmised that the reason so many Senate Republicans defected on the measure was because of the lack of defense spending in it. He voted in favor of the bill.
“Clearly, the concern we have is that under certain circumstances, defense would actually go down in terms of the funding at a time in which we’ve got major challenges, not only from Russia but from China as well,” Rounds said.
