A senior Republican has defied the party line on Donald Trump’s plans to fire and replace the FBI’s current head with a staunch MAGA loyalist.
Speaking with ABC’s This Week, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), a key member of the Senate’s intelligence committee, told host Jonathan Karl he thought agency chief Christopher Wray is “a very good man,” and that “I don’t have any complaints about the way that he’s done his job right now.”
The president-elect has made it clear he intends to fire Wray, who he reportedly has held a deep and bitter grudge against since the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022, and replace him with firebrand former intelligence official Kash Patel.
Given Trump’s view of the incumbent agency head, Karl pressed Rounds on his apparent approval of Wray’s tenure, asking the senator: “Is it a mistake to fire him? Why is Trump determined to fire the FBI director, let alone one he nominated in the first place?”
Rounds swiftly deflected, stating that “we don’t speak for the president-elect” and adding it is the role of the Senate to give cabinet appointees “the benefit of the doubt” ahead of the vetting process.
Despite his diplomatic response, his comments were seized by right-wing pundits on X – such as Laura Ingraham, who posted a clip of Rounds’ interview with the caption: “I think Sen. Rounds should go home and make these points at a town meeting in front of his constituents.”
Conservative radio show host Jesse Kelly was also quick to slam the senior Republican. “South Dakota is one of the reddest states in the union. They could have the most bloodthirsty right wing senators if they wanted to,” Kelly wrote. “So if losers like Mike Rounds torpedo the most important nominations, the GOP primary voter only has himself to blame.”
“Either Mike Rounds has an IQ of 85, he’s a co-conspirator in the corruption, or Wray has pictures/videos of him being naughty,” Sean Davis, co-founder of right-wing magazine The Federalist, added. “Because there’s no way an honest person with a functioning brain can possibly believe Chris Wray had done a perfect job as FBI director.”
