Tom Rice Still Has 'Real Issues' With 2020 Election but Regrets Voting Against Certifying

U.S. Representative Tom Rice told Politico this week that while he still has "real issues" with the 2020 election, he regrets his decision to vote against certifying the presidential race's results following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The South Carolina Republican, who has represented his state in the House since 2013, was one of 139 representatives who voted against certifying the election results nearly one year ago. Both chambers of Congress were scheduled to certify the election's results on January 6 but were interrupted when what started as a protest outside the Capitol escalated, prompting legislators to evacuate and lock down as rioters entered the building.

Rice told Politico he reconsidered the vote he intended to cast while waiting for the Capitol to be cleared of the rioters, but he "did not want to go back on my word."

Rice attributed the violence on January 6 to former President Donald Trump, who has continued questioning the results of the presidential election after leaving the White House and has routinely criticized the House select committee investigating the events leading up to the insurrection.

"In retrospect, I should have voted to certify," Rice told Politico, adding that Trump "was responsible for the attack on the Capitol."

Despite the votes cast by those who opposed the election's certification, Joe Biden was certified as the next president and inaugurated on January 20.

In the final days of Trump's term, the House voted to impeach him in connection with his actions on January 6, making him the first president in the nation's history to be impeached twice. Rice was one of 10 Republicans who voted in favor of Trump's second impeachment.

In a statement Rice released about his vote of support for the president's impeachment, he said that "under the strict definition of the law" he was unsure if Trump's speech to protesters before the Capitol attack "amounted to incitement of a riot, but any reasonable person could see the potential for violence." Rice's statement went on to criticize the way Trump "communicated only on Twitter" once the riot had started and "offered only weak requests for restraint."

"I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years," Rice's January 13 statement concluded. "I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable."

In the months since leaving the White House, Trump has vowed to support "America First Republican Patriots" in 2022 races who decide to launch primary challenges against Rice and other Republicans who voted for his second impeachment.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment but did not hear back before publication.