Sen. Rounds gets publisher to issue correction in Noem's book over claims he didn’t support Trump in 2016
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's book "No Going Back" needs another correction, this time for falsely claiming that Sen. Mike Rounds called for Donald Trump to drop out of the presidential race in late 2016.
In the book's third chapter, Noem describes initially supporting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in his run for president, saying that after he dropped out "supporting Trump was not a difficult decision."
But when it came to the Access Hollywood tape — a leaked recording from 2005 where Trump bragged about his supposed ability to kiss and grope women without their consent that was revealed in an Oct. 7, 2016 article by The Washington Post — Noem claims she was the lone bastion of support for Trump in South Dakota.
"Even after the Republican primary, when the race came down to Trump and Hillary Clinton, and after the infamous Access Hollywood videotape was revealed, my entire delegation in South Dakota was not supportive of Trump," Noem writes. "Every one of the Republicans called for Trump to drop out of the race, which meant they believed Hillary Clinton should be the next president. Amazing, right?"
The tape did, indeed, draw significant criticism from South Dakota's elected leaders, and in some cases calls for Trump to step down from the ticket.
"Enough is enough. Donald Trump should withdraw in favor of Governor Mike Pence. This election is just too important," Gov. Dennis Daugaard said on X, the website formerly known as Twitter, a day after the tape's release.
More: Trump says Gov. Kristi Noem 'had a bad week' when it comes to recent controversies
"Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately," Sen. John Thune wrote on X.
But Noem and Rounds responded to the scandal quite similarly, despite what her book said.
"No one should ever talk about a woman — another person for that matter — in the repulsive way that Donald Trump did. Period." Noem wrote on X.
A spokesperson for Rounds told the Argus Leader on Friday that at the time that he supported Trump's goals, but that, "This is clearly a situation in which Sen. Rounds disagrees with the comments Mr. Trump made. They are deplorable and indefensible."
Shortly after the tape's release, Daugaard and Thune had also made clear that they would vote for Trump if he remained at the top of the ticket.
More: Did Kristi Noem shoot her dog? 'No Going Back' and its various controversies, explained
Lydia Hall, a Rounds spokesperson, said in a statement Friday:
“We have not read the book, but someone pointed out that among the inaccuracies, there was one that referenced Senator Rounds. We’ve asked the publisher to correct that error in their next revision, and they confirmed that they are making the correction after reviewing the facts.”
Noem's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the correction.
The correction, first reported by The Dakota Scout, is the most recent in a line of corrections and scandals that have sprung from "No Going Back," the most prominent of which is likely Noem's retelling of the killing of her 14-month-old dog Cricket who she called "untrainable."
She also falsely said she had met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which spokesman Ian Fury has said will be corrected in future editions of the book.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sen. Rounds gets publisher to issue another correction for Noem’s book