All posts tagged "karl rove"

'He just couldn't utter the words!' Trump rages at Republican legend for not praising him

President Donald Trump fired off at former White House official and GOP lobbyist Karl Rove Wednesday after Rove, appearing on Fox News, stopped short of attributing the country's “tremendous success” to the president.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump labeled Rove a “RINO,” or ‘Republican in name only,’ and raged at the former senior advisor to the Bush administration for being “unable” to “utter” his name.

“RINO Karl Rove, when asked on Fox & Friends this morning how to explain the tremendous success of the Republican Party, with millions of people joining it, and the Dems losing millions, was unable to give an answer,” Trump wrote. “He just couldn’t utter the words, President Donald J. Trump! But that’s OK, the people get it, and always have!”

Trump has long feuded with Rove, a key architect of the Iraq War, reportedly calling him a “dope” as far back as 2010. He’d go on to criticize Rove over the years, calling him a “pompous fool with bad advice” in 2021, and a “total loser” earlier this year.

Rove has not been kind to Trump either, having criticized him ahead of his victory in 2016 frequently on Fox News and other mediums.

Fox News cuts from Trump's economy speech to Karl Rove's frustrated sigh

Former President Donald Trump tried to break through the Democratic convention coverage with another rambling speech on the economy that was carried live on Fox News, C-SPAN 2 and briefly on CNN.

However, Fox News cut away from the comments, where former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove explained that it was a hodgepodge of off-the-cuff lines from his rally speeches to supporters.

Host Martha MacCallum said Trump would appear every day this week to provide counter-programming for the Democratic convention.

Read also: How Trump's new gibberish speeches are alienating swing voters

Rove agreed it was smart to visit such a critical state but let out a frustrated sigh and said there needs to be a more disciplined message than what Trump delivered.

"I've been through this twice," Rove said, citing his 2000 and 2004 campaigns. "And you want to go to these places, and you want to have a simple message that the media has to cover. Instead, he gives them a giant smörgåsbord. Some of it is apparently written into his speech draft. But apparently some of it is just ad hoc."

Rove said that the media "gets to pick and choose" what they cover, "and who thinks that the dominant media in this country is going to pick the thing that is the best productive for him at getting votes?"

Rove expected the media to pick up on his attacks on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

"In order to force the media to cover your message, you need to be disciplined, focused, and short, and then they've got no option except to report to the people of Pennsylvania or people of Arizona whatever it is you want to have," Rove explained.

"You give them something big and outlandish and, you know, claims about this or that. The dominant media is going to pick out something that's not going to be helpful to him. And the local media may or may not get it right," he closed.

See the clip below or at the link here.


Karl Rove reveals who he 'fully expects' will lead Trump-Harris race by DNC's end

Karl Rove, White House Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush, told Fox News viewers Friday he sees Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign soaring past Donald Trump's this month.

Rove pointed to recent poll numbers that he said showed Trump's three-point lead over President Joe Biden dropping to less than one percent as he made his case for Harris' rise.

"I fully expect that the momentum she has is going to carry her through unless it's a disastrous vice presidential choice," Rove said. "This momentum is going to leave her in the lead at the end of the Democratic National Convention."

ALSO READ: We asked 10 Republican senators: ‘Is Kamala Harris Black?’ Things got weird fast.

The Chicago convention is slated to take place Aug. 19-22, which means Rove predicts Harris' momentum will pull her past Trump within three weeks.

Rove's words were picked up by the Never-Trump political group the Lincoln Project, which quickly summarized his comment in their own words.

"Karl Rove said Donald Trump is clearly in a subordinate role," the group wrote. "Trump is cooked."

Watch the video below or click here.

'That's a problem': Karl Rove warns Dems outspending GOP 10-1 amid Harris 'excitement'

Republican strategist Karl Rove warned Republican leaders that they have a "problem" as Democrats are outspending them 10 to one at the local level.

During a Monday interview on Fox News, Rove faulted Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance for failing to pivot after responding to Democratic claims that he was "weird."

"Problem with J.D. Vance in that response was fine, very artful, detailed, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but way too long and missed the opportunity to go on the offense," Rove said.

The strategist suggested that Republicans faced another problem in Senate races because Democrats were outspending them.

"Well, one of the things that would concern me if I was in the high command of the Trump campaign is that they are being outspent at the state level by the state Democratic parties over the state Republican parties on the ground game," Rove explained.

"And unless the Trump campaign is gonna be able to even that up, they're gonna have a problem with marginally bigger turnout because of two things, one is more excitement about Kamala Harris," he continued. "And second of all, a much larger ground game activity undergoing in places like Wisconsin, where I saw a report today that suggested that the Republicans over the course of this entire year, which did include a special election for the Supreme Court earlier in the spring, that Democrats have outspent the Republicans on ground game activity 10 to one."

"That's a problem, and you gotta get that evened up."

Fox News host Martha MacCallum expressed frustration at the Republican Party.

"Karl, I mean, this is something that has been talked about since the 2022 midterms," she said. "So what if Republicans, why aren't they better at it by now?"

ALSO READ: Boebert, MTG and far-fight friends derail Speaker Mike Johnson’s summer plans

"That's a problem if the Republicans don't have their ground game together to get this election run," Rove agreed. "Well, it's not like they haven't had any warning over the last couple of cycles."

MacCallum noted that the failure had come despite a shakeup in Republican Party leadership, including Lara Trump's new role as a co-chair.

"You gotta get this thing done at the state and local level," Rove insisted. "It can't all be done out of Washington, D.C."

Watch the video below from Fox News or at this link.

'The guy can’t keep his zipper up': Karl Rove pushes back at Ken Paxton

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove said Friday that Attorney General Ken Paxton only has himself to blame for his impeachment.

At the Texas Tribune Festival, Rove pushed back against claims Paxton made in recent interviews that Rove colluded with other Texas officials to bring about the charges against him. Rove’s comments come six days after the state Senate voted to acquit Paxton in his impeachment trial.

“I wish I could claim credit for having instigated the investigation of Warren Kenneth Paxton, but that honor goes to Warren Kenneth Paxton,” Rove said.

“The guy can’t keep his zipper up,” he later said. Rove was apparently referencing allegations that the attorney general misused his office to help his friend and donor Nate Paul, in exchange for favors that included giving a job to a woman with whom Paxton was having an affair.

“The tycoon wanted something in return for giving the girlfriend a job — and he got it,” Rove said.

After his acquittal, Paxton went on a media blitz blasting a range of political enemies including Rove. The Austin-based strategist and former adviser to George W. Bush is no fan of Paxton, writing a column last month that suggested Paxton was likely to be convicted at trial.

At the festival, Rove did not hold back about his feelings about Paxton. He said the responsibility for the impeachment “rests with Ken Paxton, who by his own arrogance, thought he could get the taxpayers of Texas stuck with” a $3.3 million settlement with whistleblowers who reported him to the FBI in 2020.

“The Senate is not really a court,” Rove said. “They made their decision. But the court of opinion is going to hold this guy responsible.”

Rove added that Democrats “are not gonna be so stupid as to nominate somebody” who cannot give Paxton a serious challenge in his next election.

Paxton is up for reelection in 2026, though he has floated challenging U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) instead.

Paxton won a third term last year, defeating Democrat Rochella Garza by 10 percentage points in his first election since the whistleblowers’ claims.

Paxton has repeatedly bashed Rove in his post-acquittal interviews, which began with an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In posting the interview, Carlson wrote that “liberals like Karl Rove just tried to annihilate” Paxton.

“I wish I could claim credit for it, but whoever that guy who called me a liberal, obviously, is not very conversant with what the hell is going on in Texas,” Rove said.

Fox's Karl Rove says he thinks Hillary Clinton might have brain damage

Fox News commentator Karl Rove said to a conference in California earlier this month that he suspects that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is brain-damaged from a fall and concussion she suffered in 2012.

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Rove: How can Obama close Gitmo if detainees didn't get Miranda warnings?

Former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove is warning President Barack Obama that he might have difficulty closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay because detainees imprisoned by the previous administration were not read their Miranda rights.

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Rove: Obama a 'political thug' for Supreme Court remarks

President George W. Bush's former senior advisor on Tuesday said that President Barack Obama was "some kind of political thug" because he suggested that it would be "unprecedented" for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the health care reform law.

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Maddow: Romney campaign and Rove play fast and loose with the truth

Rachel Maddow ran a report on Wednesday's edition of The Rachel Maddow Show about the unprecedented level of dishonesty coming out of the Romney campaign. On Thursday's program she took on more examples of ways in which Romney, former Bush administration official Karl Rove, and the Republican party are relying on lies, selective editing and blatant distortions of the facts to sell themselves to voters.

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