John Berman: You know, this is a jarring juxtaposition. The president accused of writing pay-offs to porn stars at the same time conducting presidential business. As you look at it, are you OK with all of this?
Sen. Mike Rounds, screen cap from CNN 2019.03.06.
Sen. Mike Rounds: I think most of us have a concern any time you have a president who is trying to work through some very personal matters. I think — I honestly think this president loves his family, and I think it has as much to do with trying not to — 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. And I think that’s a lot of it.
You know, I think that every time I think about this I think about that particular issue, because I — I think he really does care about — about his family. I think he loves his family, and I don’t think he wanted his family to — to go through this [CNN: New Day, transcript, 2019.03.06].
Thou shalt not commit adultery unless thou canst pay a tub of money to keep thy concubines quiet. So sayeth Mike Rounds’s Lord.
South Dakota, those are the family values for which Mike Rounds stands.
Does anyone honestly think that if a Democratic president did this, Rounds would be so docile and forgiving? Hyopocrites! High standard for Democrats. No standard for Republicans
happy camper
2019-03-07 07:47
Don’t deflect Jason this is like saying Newt had an affair because he loved his country too much. It’s just indefensible and Mike looks ridiculous.
Jenny
2019-03-07 07:55
Exactly Rohr, Mikey would never ever ever say this about a democrat caught with his pants down paying off a whore. Hypocrite.
Yes Rounds the ever loyal Catholic would make excuses for the kiddy diddlin’Priests in his Church also.
Donald Pay
2019-03-07 08:10
There’s a lesson in this. If you’re going to cheat, cheat with Certain Inflatable Recreational Devices.
When Trump moved into the White House, he was miffed that he couldn’t get porn channels on his TV. The guy is all about himself. He doesn’t care about his kids or his wife. Rounds does, and is simply projecting normal human emotions onto Trump. That’s where people go wrong. Trump is like a giant black hole. Get too close and you get sucked into his amorality. I’d say Rounds is circling the drain.
mike from iowa
2019-03-07 08:14
Drumpf is exactly everything wingnuts have accused HRC of being over the past 35 years and change. They have a bigly problem on their hands and they choose to handle it by mostly ignoring it and attacking Democrats.
happy camper
2019-03-07 08:36
It’s dangerous logic: “I embezzled the money because I love my family so much.” Almost anything could be defended along those lines once again SD looks like a laughing stock. The comments elsewhere are not kind. Only hardcore Trump supporters would buy this the Republicans I know find Trump an embarrassment.
jerry
2019-03-07 08:45
Rounds seems to sound like a feller who got his hand caught in the cookie jar at some point in is life, and had to pay the piper…How else would he feel so knowledgeable on the subject? Cardinal Pell felt the same way.
Dicta
2019-03-07 09:51
Nothing says “I love my family” like sleeping with a porn star a week after your wife gives birth to your son. Father and husband of the year, really.
Loren
2019-03-07 09:56
What do you bet that the trumpster “loved” each of his THREE wives in this manner? BTW, this comment made the national news circuit, so Smilin’ Mikey made SD look like a bunch of fools… AGAIN!
The reports I have read indicate that, in order for such payoffs to be a violation of campaign finance laws, the *sole* purpose of the payoff needs to be to influence an election. If one has multiple reasons for making a payoff, that act does not satisfy the legal standard. I’m not arguing it’s the right way to write the statutes, but, cynically speaking, would anyone be surprised that *any* politician would want to write legislation that would make it easier for them or their colleagues to be convicted of a federal crime?
Randi
2019-03-07 10:35
Remember the catchphrase “Moral Majority?”
Me neither.
jerry
2019-03-07 11:09
The conspiracy by Pecker/trump/Cohen to keep the women’s story’s secret, was clear campaign finance law breaking. Remember, there is more than one woman involved and this was just after the Access Hollywood tape was released. The payoff’s were the “sole” purpose in the conspiracy between the Enquirer and the protection of trump.
o
2019-03-07 11:15
Jason: Rounds is in the party that does not believe in infanticide.
or science.
o
2019-03-07 11:21
So in this context, “loves” and “cares about” mean “doesn’t want to have them know about…” So in that context, the President must REALLY care about and love Robert Mueller and the US Congress because he is REALLY working to stop them from finding out about things he as done as well.
bearcreekbat
2019-03-07 11:43
Rounds deserves criticism for a phony self serving attempt to excuse Trump’s efforts to buy off his paramour to hide his infidelity. That being said, it is unsettling to read so many critics, especially liberal critics who ought to know better, casually refer to Stephanie Clifford as a “porn star” in an apparent effort to imply that her profession made Trump’s transgression somehow worse than it was. While it is understandable that some people find the adult industry distasteful, Trump’s actions would be equally offensive, whether the female who engaged with him was a nurse, accountant, actress in the adult film industry, or most any other profession.
And actresses, such as Daniels, really don’t deserve to be given unseemly labels just because of choosing a particular lawful occupation, nor extra condemnation for inappropriate behavior. While there are definitely some professions that deserve extra condemnation, such as priests or ministers that purport to be models of moral conduct, being an actress is not one of them. A choice to be an actress in adult films is no more a badge of evil or immorality than choosing to be a real estate agent or scientist.
Criticism of Trump’s behavior should be focused on that behavior, not a pejorative label describing the lawful employment of a paramour. While the “porn star” label may be titillating to some or upsetting to others, it is a distraction that unfairly denigrates a whole class of women, while not really making Trump’s conduct any more offensive than is was.
“Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately.”
-John Thune, October 8, 2016
jerry
2019-03-07 12:17
” Virginia Roberts says she was 16 and working as a locker room attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort when she was approached by Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s associate, about becoming a masseuse for Epstein.” Miami Herald
trump/Epstein/Robert Kraft and the multitude of the rich and powerful are really sex addicts and pedophiles that have to do payoffs to keep white slavery going. I am starting to wonder about Rounds as he seems to think this behavior is normal.
Isn’t that the very reason we all make hush payments
o
2019-03-07 13:02
And let us not forget how considerate of public shame and family privacy the GOP was when President Bill Clinton and his family faced his infidelity strife.
Maybe that’s Mike Rounds way of doing business, but not President Trumps.
Debbo
2019-03-07 15:41
SD will reelect their little boy, Marion the Grifter, regardlessof how many stupid things he says. Why do I say that?
R
Ray Tysdal
2019-03-07 15:43
Quite frankly if a Republican says “honestly” in a sentence he is probably lying. I didn’t used to think that. I hope that all of those who have commented here are also sending their comments to Mike Rounds and are posting them on social media. Mike owes all of us in South Dakota and everywhere else an apology. Maybe someone should interview Mike’s wife.
mike from iowa
2019-03-07 16:19
Valentine’s Day is on the horizon. Remember, nothing says loving like trying to stick a bun in another oven and then paying her to be quiet.
Yer up, Hallmark. make as rhyme out of that scenario. Uff dA.
mike from iowa
2019-03-07 16:37
After taking a close look at Drumpf might it be Melanoma has been sending thank you money to Stormy for services rendered?
Most wingnuts would not support impeachment regardless of what Drumpf crimes have been committed. Party of law and order and family values that ain’t.
Moses6
2019-03-07 17:25
As I said before you got to watch Slick Mike .He is in the fold hopefully a good canidate can get bea this Liar in a election.Love his family great saying slick Mike.
RJ
2019-03-07 17:43
Sometimes the line between right and wrong is kind of messy. In this case it’s not. We have a president who cheated on his wife with a pornstar, lied about it and paid her to keep quiet and then subsequently commenced to try to legislate what is “ethical” or “moral”. Mike is an embarrassment. You don’t get to claim the holier then thou crap if you condone having an affair and lying about it repeatedly to the American Public
RJ
2019-03-07 17:48
It’s also a bummer, but totally expected when any politician from South Dakota makes the national news, because it’s never for something positive. Newsflash: Mike Rounds votes to improve healthcare coverage for those in need. Or John Thune volunteers time to homeless vets. Kristin Noem reads a book. This would be good news.
Jenny
2019-03-07 18:39
Exactly, RJ. You know when South Dakota makes the national news it’s going to be embarrassing. Let’s see corruption, racism, genital obsession, anti-LGBT, anti-Hemp, Trump apologist………..what will be next.
mike from iowa
2019-03-07 19:42
South Dakota will always be considered inbred. The voters and pols have worked hard for this reputation. Reap what you sow.
Robert Kolbe
2019-03-07 20:11
Wow. Mikee just told the world the excuse he uses when he has an affair.
Does he use this if it’s just a one nite stand or if it’s a porn star???
happy camper
2019-03-07 20:33
As a Republican I can honestly say all people are flawed including Clinton who was in similar circumstances with Epstein this has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans Jerry has it somewhat right the rich and powerful often don’t think rules of decency apply to them but not all The Deb Disclaimer generally applies.
RJ
2019-03-07 20:55
HC- Deflect much?
leslie
2019-03-08 03:13
Remind us, didn’t Rounds mansplain something else that the whole country laughed at SD over, recently?
But only a special few of us commit adultery multiple times, write massive checks to silence our mistresses, and then get United States Senators to claim our adultery and payoffs are really signs of love.
Among Rounds’s sins is making excuses for his party leader’s sins instead of calling them sins.
Peggy
2019-03-08 15:52
Now, that explanation is down right embarrassing !!! I would hope that deep down he does know better !!
Debbo
2019-03-10 19:30
SD’s junior senator is a star! He came in at #2 on National Memo’s This Week in Crazy, almost won. Doesn’t it make you just swell with pride?! Or swell with something. 🤢🤢🤢🤮
At Helsinki Trump accepted US Intelligence Community assessment that Putin interfered with 2016-then said “could have been ther people.”
Rounds said Trump meant “Of course [Putin] didn’t do it, even though we all know that [he did].” Though a mistake, Rounds continued … “I know you did, you know you did, and you know I know you did.”
The party of “family values.”
Does anyone honestly think that if a Democratic president did this, Rounds would be so docile and forgiving? Hyopocrites! High standard for Democrats. No standard for Republicans
Don’t deflect Jason this is like saying Newt had an affair because he loved his country too much. It’s just indefensible and Mike looks ridiculous.
Exactly Rohr, Mikey would never ever ever say this about a democrat caught with his pants down paying off a whore. Hypocrite.
Yes Rounds the ever loyal Catholic would make excuses for the kiddy diddlin’Priests in his Church also.
There’s a lesson in this. If you’re going to cheat, cheat with Certain Inflatable Recreational Devices.
When Trump moved into the White House, he was miffed that he couldn’t get porn channels on his TV. The guy is all about himself. He doesn’t care about his kids or his wife. Rounds does, and is simply projecting normal human emotions onto Trump. That’s where people go wrong. Trump is like a giant black hole. Get too close and you get sucked into his amorality. I’d say Rounds is circling the drain.
Drumpf is exactly everything wingnuts have accused HRC of being over the past 35 years and change. They have a bigly problem on their hands and they choose to handle it by mostly ignoring it and attacking Democrats.
It’s dangerous logic: “I embezzled the money because I love my family so much.” Almost anything could be defended along those lines once again SD looks like a laughing stock. The comments elsewhere are not kind. Only hardcore Trump supporters would buy this the Republicans I know find Trump an embarrassment.
Rounds seems to sound like a feller who got his hand caught in the cookie jar at some point in is life, and had to pay the piper…How else would he feel so knowledgeable on the subject? Cardinal Pell felt the same way.
Nothing says “I love my family” like sleeping with a porn star a week after your wife gives birth to your son. Father and husband of the year, really.
What do you bet that the trumpster “loved” each of his THREE wives in this manner? BTW, this comment made the national news circuit, so Smilin’ Mikey made SD look like a bunch of fools… AGAIN!
The reports I have read indicate that, in order for such payoffs to be a violation of campaign finance laws, the *sole* purpose of the payoff needs to be to influence an election. If one has multiple reasons for making a payoff, that act does not satisfy the legal standard. I’m not arguing it’s the right way to write the statutes, but, cynically speaking, would anyone be surprised that *any* politician would want to write legislation that would make it easier for them or their colleagues to be convicted of a federal crime?
Remember the catchphrase “Moral Majority?”
Me neither.
The conspiracy by Pecker/trump/Cohen to keep the women’s story’s secret, was clear campaign finance law breaking. Remember, there is more than one woman involved and this was just after the Access Hollywood tape was released. The payoff’s were the “sole” purpose in the conspiracy between the Enquirer and the protection of trump.
Jason: Rounds is in the party that does not believe in infanticide.
or science.
So in this context, “loves” and “cares about” mean “doesn’t want to have them know about…” So in that context, the President must REALLY care about and love Robert Mueller and the US Congress because he is REALLY working to stop them from finding out about things he as done as well.
Rounds deserves criticism for a phony self serving attempt to excuse Trump’s efforts to buy off his paramour to hide his infidelity. That being said, it is unsettling to read so many critics, especially liberal critics who ought to know better, casually refer to Stephanie Clifford as a “porn star” in an apparent effort to imply that her profession made Trump’s transgression somehow worse than it was. While it is understandable that some people find the adult industry distasteful, Trump’s actions would be equally offensive, whether the female who engaged with him was a nurse, accountant, actress in the adult film industry, or most any other profession.
And actresses, such as Daniels, really don’t deserve to be given unseemly labels just because of choosing a particular lawful occupation, nor extra condemnation for inappropriate behavior. While there are definitely some professions that deserve extra condemnation, such as priests or ministers that purport to be models of moral conduct, being an actress is not one of them. A choice to be an actress in adult films is no more a badge of evil or immorality than choosing to be a real estate agent or scientist.
Criticism of Trump’s behavior should be focused on that behavior, not a pejorative label describing the lawful employment of a paramour. While the “porn star” label may be titillating to some or upsetting to others, it is a distraction that unfairly denigrates a whole class of women, while not really making Trump’s conduct any more offensive than is was.
P.S. nice observation o!
Dear Senator Rounds,
https://twitter.com/SenJohnThune/status/784798261781598208
“Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately.”
-John Thune, October 8, 2016
” Virginia Roberts says she was 16 and working as a locker room attendant at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort when she was approached by Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s associate, about becoming a masseuse for Epstein.” Miami Herald
trump/Epstein/Robert Kraft and the multitude of the rich and powerful are really sex addicts and pedophiles that have to do payoffs to keep white slavery going. I am starting to wonder about Rounds as he seems to think this behavior is normal.
Here is a bit moar from Salon- https://www.salon.com/2019/03/07/gop-senator-trump-only-made-an-illegal-hush-payment-to-a-porn-star-because-he-loves-his-family_partner/
Isn’t that the very reason we all make hush payments
And let us not forget how considerate of public shame and family privacy the GOP was when President Bill Clinton and his family faced his infidelity strife.
Maybe that’s Mike Rounds way of doing business, but not President Trumps.
SD will reelect their little boy, Marion the Grifter, regardlessof how many stupid things he says. Why do I say that?
R
Quite frankly if a Republican says “honestly” in a sentence he is probably lying. I didn’t used to think that. I hope that all of those who have commented here are also sending their comments to Mike Rounds and are posting them on social media. Mike owes all of us in South Dakota and everywhere else an apology. Maybe someone should interview Mike’s wife.
Valentine’s Day is on the horizon. Remember, nothing says loving like trying to stick a bun in another oven and then paying her to be quiet.
Yer up, Hallmark. make as rhyme out of that scenario. Uff dA.
After taking a close look at Drumpf might it be Melanoma has been sending thank you money to Stormy for services rendered?
The surprise that never was- https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-support-donald-trump-impeachment-russian-assistance-mueller-1355656
Most wingnuts would not support impeachment regardless of what Drumpf crimes have been committed. Party of law and order and family values that ain’t.
As I said before you got to watch Slick Mike .He is in the fold hopefully a good canidate can get bea this Liar in a election.Love his family great saying slick Mike.
Sometimes the line between right and wrong is kind of messy. In this case it’s not. We have a president who cheated on his wife with a pornstar, lied about it and paid her to keep quiet and then subsequently commenced to try to legislate what is “ethical” or “moral”. Mike is an embarrassment. You don’t get to claim the holier then thou crap if you condone having an affair and lying about it repeatedly to the American Public
It’s also a bummer, but totally expected when any politician from South Dakota makes the national news, because it’s never for something positive. Newsflash: Mike Rounds votes to improve healthcare coverage for those in need. Or John Thune volunteers time to homeless vets. Kristin Noem reads a book. This would be good news.
Exactly, RJ. You know when South Dakota makes the national news it’s going to be embarrassing. Let’s see corruption, racism, genital obsession, anti-LGBT, anti-Hemp, Trump apologist………..what will be next.
South Dakota will always be considered inbred. The voters and pols have worked hard for this reputation. Reap what you sow.
Wow. Mikee just told the world the excuse he uses when he has an affair.
Does he use this if it’s just a one nite stand or if it’s a porn star???
As a Republican I can honestly say all people are flawed including Clinton who was in similar circumstances with Epstein this has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans Jerry has it somewhat right the rich and powerful often don’t think rules of decency apply to them but not all The Deb Disclaimer generally applies.
HC- Deflect much?
Remind us, didn’t Rounds mansplain something else that the whole country laughed at SD over, recently?
We are all fallible beings. We all sin.
But only a special few of us commit adultery multiple times, write massive checks to silence our mistresses, and then get United States Senators to claim our adultery and payoffs are really signs of love.
Among Rounds’s sins is making excuses for his party leader’s sins instead of calling them sins.
Now, that explanation is down right embarrassing !!! I would hope that deep down he does know better !!
SD’s junior senator is a star! He came in at #2 on National Memo’s This Week in Crazy, almost won. Doesn’t it make you just swell with pride?! Or swell with something. 🤢🤢🤢🤮
https://goo.gl/nq7M6S
Daily Kos, “Mike Rounds…say what?” 354 comments! 3.06.19
At Helsinki Trump accepted US Intelligence Community assessment that Putin interfered with 2016-then said “could have been ther people.”
Rounds said Trump meant “Of course [Putin] didn’t do it, even though we all know that [he did].” Though a mistake, Rounds continued … “I know you did, you know you did, and you know I know you did.”