Senior advisors Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita listen as Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at his election night rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A senior advisor to former President George W. Bush ruffled the Trump campaign's feathers on Thursday evening when he flippantly commented that the outgoing head of the top super PAC for Senate Republicans "dragged" Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) "across the finish line."
Steven J. Law, who served as Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) chief of staff, is leaving his position as CEO of the Senate Leadership Fund, The New York Times reported. His move coincides with McConnell's exit as the Republican leader in the Senate and will allow incoming chamber leader Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to pick his own ally for the organization.
But it was a quote from Karl Rove about Law's influence on the party that caught the attention of Chris LaCivita, who served as a senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump's presidential campaign this year.
"There was a candidate running in Ohio who was a terrible fund-raiser and was not a particularly effective candidate and the rest of the Republican ticket is winning by — from 18 to 24 points," Rove told the Times. "But JD Vance gets dragged across the finish line by Steven Law."
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He noted there hasn't been a "single Republican victory in a highly contested Senate race" that Law and his organization didn't have a hand in securing.
While the sentiment was complementary of Law, LaCivita noted on X that it appeared to be a shot at the new vice president-elect.
"This is a crappy way to compliment someone - but There is always going to be that one gratuitous jacka-- spouting BS - some people just can’t help themselves," he wrote.
Vance won his 2022 election over Democrat Tim Ryan, winning about 53 percent of the roughly 4.1 million votes. A Times tally of the election showed Ryan making massive gains over the 2020 presidential margin, including over 30 points in Franklin and Cuyahoga counties, and another 15 points in Hamilton, the state's three largest counties.