GOP Senator Mike Rounds: Trump Paid Hush Money to Stormy Daniels Because ‘the President Loves His Family’
Those checks to the porn star? It was just ‘a private matter that he didn’t want to have discussed with his family,’ South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds told CNN.
What would you do for your family?
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told CNN’s John Berman that he believes President Trump loves his family so much that he paid off porn star Stormy Daniels—with whom he had an alleged extramarital affair shortly after his son Barron was born—to protect them.
Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former “fixer” and personal attorney, has publicly testified that he was reimbursed by the president for hush-money payments made to two women, namely Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.
Berman, who co-hosts New Day, said: “This is a jarring juxtaposition, the president accused of writing payoffs to porn stars at the same time he’s conducting presidential business. As you look at this, are you OK with all of this?”
Rounds replied, “Most of us have a concern anytime you have a president who is trying to work through some very personal matters.”
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“I honestly think this president loves his family,” he continued. “I think it has as much to do with trying not to have public discussions about something that is, for him, a private matter that he didn’t want to have discussed with his family. I think that’s a lot of it.”
“I think he really does care about his family,” the senator added. “I think he loves his family and I don’t think he wanted his family to go through this.”
But, as Berman noted, “There are people who have testified that part of those payoffs, though, were to influence the election. You do know that that is something that the Southern District of New York has alleged.”
Rounds replied, “I’m not going to try to litigate that today.”
To be clear, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for what SDNY federal prosecutors called “brazen violations of the election laws” by orchestrating those payments on behalf of President Trump.
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