Analysis of the current state of the race left Karl Rove asserting an “uncomfortable” former President Donald Trump had landed in a “subordinate role” to Vice President Kamala Harris.
(Video Credit: Fox News)
Sunday on Fox News, anchor Neil Cavuto turned to the whiteboard-toting political strategist as the presidential election took on a new shape with a new ticket leader for the Democratic Party. Feeding into the supposed excitement on the left for the Harris campaign and what challenges may lie ahead, Rove contrasted that with imminent “difficulties” for the GOP leader.
“Trump, he has difficulties too. He’s got to frame Harris, he’s got to find the right message to go after her….he’s got to get back in control of the dialogue,” the contributor contended while reading off his bullet points. “He is clearly in a subordinate role here. He feels uncomfortable with it, I suspect, and he likes being the guy who’s setting the tempo of the campaign. And that’s not happening.”
The assertion came in response to Cavuto referencing the opinion of longtime Democratic political strategist James Carville who recently argued, “This has been a real change in mood in the party and around the country, but we got to be a little careful. There’s about ten percent too much triumphalism going on, and you know, it’s going to be a very difficult race.”
James Carville warns Dems to knock off the ‘giddy elation’, get back to ‘realism’ quick: ‘They’re coming’ https://t.co/5UowhtXikX
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) July 26, 2024
“Karl, what do you think? [Carville’s] saying he likes this choice,” the host asked. “But again, he is cautioning let’s not get ahead of our skis here. What do you think of that?”
Providing the kind of commentary that reinforced Trump’s increasingly negative view of the outlet, Rove didn’t challenge the purported enthusiasm and instead, drew attention to upcoming hurdles.
“I think that’s absolutely right. Look, everybody’s got tough things that they have to do…But think about this. This is what Harris has got to do between now and the end of the month. Introduce herself. We know she’s the vice president, but how does she want to frame herself for the general election,” he detailed. “She needs to figure out how she’s going to go after Trump. She’s got to pick a vice president.”
“And that vice president has got to immediately say, you know what, she demonstrated the leadership that that person would be capable of … being president if something bad happened. And so that makes us feel better about her leadership abilities,” continued Rove.
“She’s got to have a convention that unifies the Democratic Party and has a positive impact on the American voter,” he went on. “And then, the week after I think is gonna be absolutely critical. The Democratic convention starts on August 19 and what that means is, is that they’ve got one week after that convention, one week, and a couple of days before Labor Day. And that’s gonna be — I think attitudes by Labor Day are gonna be really important. So she needs to come blowing out of that convention in Chicago and showing big crowds and lots of enthusiasm.”
Before concluding, Rove presented another whiteboard and noted, “Nine national polls since Joe Biden announced on the 19th that he’s not running — if you take those nine polls, it is Trump by 0.88.”
“That’s basically 9/10 of 1%. And that’s after he gets the bump coming out of the convention that, that really showed a unity for the Republican ticket in the Republican Party,” the strategist claimed as he argued the race would remain close. “And so this is going to be a barnburner, and it’s very much up for grabs and the next two or three weeks are going to be critical for both camps.”
The president’s supporters were hardly in accord with the “subordinate” analysis.
Karl Rove is the worst example of RINO ever. And that chart! So lame.
— TeacherMom (@CherylSchantz2) July 30, 2024
Karl Rove was on Fox News the evening of the November 2016 election with his little chalkboard telling us that Trump had no chance to win, and that Hillary would be the next president.
— War Hippie (@OneManRepublic) July 30, 2024
Not trustworthy
— cryptofamous (@cryptofamousXRP) July 30, 2024
He’s one of the many reasons I don’t watch FOX, plus they have skewed polls!
— cadom65 (@DomCheryll) July 30, 2024
I wish that there was a laugh button here because this statement by Rove is hilarious.
— Patty Wood (@PattyBroskyWood) July 29, 2024
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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