GOP lawmaker says he would support Trump again if he apologizes for Jan. 6 attack

Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) in an interview broadcast on Sunday said he would consider supporting former President Trump again if Trump apologies for the Jan 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol. 

“There’s no way you can support [Trump] again?” co-host Jonathan Karl asked Rice, one of the 10 Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach the former president for his role in the insurrection, on ABC’s “This Week.” 

“No, there’s one way … if he apologized,” Rice told Karl. 

“So if he came out and said, ‘I’m sorry,’ I mean, all that goes out?” Karl asked Rice. 

“If he came out and said, ‘I’m sorry that I made a huge mistake on Jan. 6.’ Then I might consider it,” Rice said.

Rice, who is also campaigning to be reelected in his district in November, also said that voting to impeach Trump was the most “conservative” thing to do, saying his job is to defend the Constitution. 

“And absolutely defending the Constitution is a bedrock of the Republican platform, right? Defend the Constitution and that’s what I did,” Rice told Karl. “That was the conservative vote.”

“Impeachment was the conservative vote?” Karl asked Rice. 

“Absolutely, it was the conservative vote,” Rice replied. “There’s no question in my mind.”

Rice added that another Trump run for office in 2024 would hurt the Republican Party. 

Rice’s remarks come as the House select committee investigating the Jan 6 attack announced last week that it will hold a hearing on Thursday in a prime-time slot, adding that it will present unreleased documents and its findings related to the attack.