South Dakota’s Mike Rounds strips Trump name from campaign site as ratings slip before Election Day

Sen. Mike Rounds removed President Trump’s name from his campaign website weeks before Election Day, a change his independent rival ties straight to falling poll numbers.

Fox News Digital reviewed an older version of the South Dakota Republican’s site and found clear scrubbing. Two mentions of Trump that had sat on the homepage were gone. His name had also been pulled from the “Put America First” and “Education” sections on the Issues page.

As recently as last month, the site featured Trump’s name and endorsement in plain view. The changes landed as Election Day nears in a state the Cook Political Report still rates Solidly Republican.

Rounds is seeking a third Senate term after earlier service as South Dakota governor and state senator. Last year, Trump gave him a full-throated endorsement on Truth Social and praised him as a strong advocate for the state Trump said he “WON BIG” in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

Campaign says the endorsement never left

Rounds’ campaign advisor Rob Skjonsberg told reporters the president’s backing remains easy to find. He pointed to the senator’s announcement video and rejected the idea that the site overhaul meant a break with Trump.

"The president’s endorsement is still front and center on the website in Mike’s announcement video," Skjonsberg said.

"But, generally speaking, it’s not abnormal to hone in on general election messaging."

That defense lands against a backdrop of heavy national attention on Trump’s own moves, from personnel shifts such as when Trump taps Katie Zacharia for a top communications post to broader midterm positioning.

Skjonsberg went further, framing the attack as a distraction play from the left rather than a serious policy fight.

"Bengs, quite likely the most unlikable carpet bagger candidate to ever run in South Dakota, is doing what socialists do, trying to distract from his own liberal positions," he said. "He can’t defend his positions, so he attacks."

"In this case, like every case prior, it’s coming from a Biden communications firm attempting to peddle garbage. We’re proud of the president’s endorsement. It’s still front and center," Skjonsberg added. "And, Bengs still wants to increase your taxes, take away your guns and expand Obamacare."

Bengs claims the timing tracks poll trouble

Independent candidate Brian Bengs offered a different story. He previously ran as a Democrat against Senate Majority Leader John Thune in 2022 and lost badly, with Thune taking more than 70% of the vote. Now he is back on the ballot against Rounds.

Bengs told Fox News Digital he is not running against the president. He argued the website edits only arrived after Rounds’ numbers softened and outside money flooded in to prop up the incumbent.

"I'm not running against the President," Bengs said.

"But to me it says a lot that this didn't happen because of the Iran War that's raising our costs or the tariffs that are hurting us, it only happened when Mike's poll numbers went down and his big money allies are buying more ads to bail him out. I hope Mike finds the courage to debate me, so we can talk about it."

Bengs offered no specific poll figures for Rounds in that claim. What the record does show is a Fox News poll from last month putting the president’s overall job approval at 39%.

Voters still weighing foreign-policy fights can look to recent White House action as well, including when Trump signs Russia and Iran sanctions into law and keeps pressure on adversarial regimes.

Trump’s endorsement language was blunt

When Trump backed Rounds last year, he left little room for doubt. The Truth Social post carried the kind of direct seal of approval primary voters in red states watch closely.

"Mike Rounds has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election, HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,"

Trump also called Rounds an “incredibly strong advocate for the wonderful people of South Dakota,” tying the senator to a state he said he won big across multiple cycles.

That kind of personal political outreach has been a steady Trump habit, whether he is courting new allies, as when Trump invites Pennsylvania’s Fetterman toward the GOP, or locking in support for incumbents already on the ballot.

Other Republicans face tighter maps

The Rounds scrub arrives as some Republicans in more competitive states have publicly broken with pieces of Trump’s agenda. Fox News Digital noted Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan as examples of candidates who came out against certain Trump policies, including the war and the embrace of data centers, while running on tougher terrain.

South Dakota is not that terrain. Cook still lists it as Solidly Republican, unlike red states such as Kansas that have shown more movement. Rounds’ race sits in a deep-red environment where the president’s endorsement once dominated the campaign’s own homepage copy, complete with language that “Mike is endorsed by President Trump and is working for South Dakota every single day.”

Campaigns refine websites all the time. What draws notice here is the sequence: prominent Trump branding last month, then a quieter homepage and Issues page as the calendar shortens and national approval numbers sit underwater.

Trump, for his part, has kept driving executive and legal fights on multiple fronts, from spending clawbacks to courtroom battles. Readers following those threads have seen him notify Congress of a major clawback aimed at illegal immigrant programs and continue pressing older cases through the courts.

Rounds’ team insists the relationship is intact and the video endorsement still sits in plain sight. Bengs insists the missing website text is a tell about pressure and weak numbers. South Dakota voters will settle the argument at the ballot box.

In a ruby-red state, candidates who mute a winning president’s name invite a simple question from the base: if the endorsement is still a point of pride, why did it have to leave the homepage?