Karl Rove — the longtime Republican strategist behind George W. Bush's presidency — is lamenting that politics has become cheapened by constant attention-seeking. And he's pinning the blame primarily on President Donald Trump.
In a Wednesday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Rove bemoaned the current state of American politics as "way too loud and much too small." And he observed that rather than dealmaking and legislating, modern-day politicians instead favor "ever more exotic social media antics."
"We’re witnessing the rise of a new class of political performance artists. They want to be at the center of national attention, creating chaos and conflict, shocking sensibilities and unleashing dark passions," Rove wrote. "The hard work of legislation, of addressing Americans’ real needs, is of little interest. Instead, they compete to see who can say the most outrageous and inflammatory things. Their goal is more posts, more views, and more reactions — positive or negative, it doesn’t matter."
He highlighted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as an example of how contemporary American leaders have devolved into "performance artists." The veteran GOP strategist opined that Greene's recent announcement that she would not be seeking a fourth term in Congress was likely due to her inability to do the "sustained hard labor" required to pass legislation. Rove observed that the Georgia Republican became a "household name" not due to any actual work she did in Congress, but "by saying outlandish things."
Rove heaped blame on Trump for this phenomenon of lawmakers fashioning themselves as social media influencers, saying the president's "online domination" has meant that Washington politicians have "stopped being serious and started seeking more retweets and followers." The conservative operative pointed to the six Democratic representatives and senators — all of whom are veterans of either the military or intelligence agencies — who have been targeted by the Trump administration for a video encouraging rank-and-file servicemen and women to disobey illegal orders.
"None of the six could name a single illegal order issued by Mr. Trump in the video. So embarrassing. But implying there had been 'illegal orders' was enough to give the Video Six their moment to expand their social-media followings," Rove wrote. "The need for and wisdom of their video is highly debatable. But what is certain is that Mr. Trump’s response was outrageous. He attacked the video on Truth Social: 'This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???'"
The GOP strategist called it "mind-blowing" for a commander-in-chief to call for the imprisonment and execution of members of Congress for making a video, and said Trump's focus on punishing those six Democrats meant that he "missed a valuable opportunity to talk about things that affect real families." And he suggested that there is a yearning among the American public for elected officials who will see leadership as a serious responsibility, rather than an opportunity to garner media attention.
"The lack of trust Americans have in our institutions may be in part a reaction to how blaring our political discourse is and how preoccupied it is with pointless matters. It’s likely to get louder and the topics more idiotic until someone shows a better way," he wrote. "That’s probably years off. Change will require a new wave of leaders with different values and sensibilities."
Click here to read Rove's Wall Street Journal op-ed in its entirety (subscription required).
