President Donald Trump unleashed his full fury on GOP strategist Karl Rove in a brutal post published on his Truth Social account. In the post, the president suggested that Fox News ought to give Rove a boot to the backside and remove him as a regular political contributor for the right-leaning news network. Rove earned Trump’s ire by criticizing the president and his administration for backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Senate primary.
Rove shared his thoughts on the matter in opinion pieces he wrote for The Wall Street Journal. However, while the criticism was sharp, it’s still not known what might have caused President Trump to come out swinging for the fences against the strategist. In the post, Trump referred to Rove as a “sloppy RINO” which means Republican In Name Only.
“FoxNews should get rid of sloppy RINO Karl Rove. He’s called ME and MAGA wrong for 11 years now, and he still doesn’t get it, and he never will, because he suffers from a completely inoperable, and totally dysfunctional, case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Put Karl Rove out to pasture, NOW. He is a LOSER, and he always will be!” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Earlier on the same day as the post, Rove made an appearance on Fox where he explained that Democrats’ confidence in pulling off a blue wave during the midterms might be a bit premature. “So the Democrats right today have an advantage, but it’s likely to produce a relatively small margin in the House elections,” Rove said in a conversation with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer.
“And remember, this is a contest between two unfavorables. The president’s unfavorability is at 40%. The Democratic Party’s unfavorability is below 37. So who’s more–who’s less popular and how’s that going to affect the outcome?” he added, according to a report from NJ.Com. President Trump’s dig at Rove comes a day after the strategist published another op-ed in the WSJ called, “The Questions the Primaries Didn’t Answer.”
“Most big questions about November remain unanswered. Will Mr. Trump’s low approval rating—now 40% in the RealClearPolitics average—hurt Republicans more than the Democratic Party’s even lower approval numbers—36.7%—and limit their gains?” he stated in the piece. “Will we still be dealing with the Iran war by Labor Day? Will the result be seen as a defeat for Mr. Trump? Will gasoline and grocery prices be lower this fall? If they are, will voters’ anger have dissipated?”
Rove also wondered whether Democrats could come together behind a unified economic message and if prominent Democratic socialists could ultimately hurt the party’s overall chances on the general election ballot come November. The Fox News contributor then created a list of unanswered questions concerning the Trump administration.
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“How much will Mr. Trump’s obsessive efforts to cement a personal legacy—the White House ballroom, a triumphal arch, his name on the Kennedy Center—hurt Republicans?” he said in the op-ed. “How inflammatory will the president’s Truth Social posts be? Will the allegations of corruption in the Trump administration become an effective campaign issue for Democrats this fall?”
Rove concluded his piece by predicting that Democrats would probably take control of the House, while the GOP remained in control of the Senate. He then finished by stating, “But the known unknowns are enough to keep the election interesting.” Some conservatives think it’s Rove’s lack of faith in the Republican Party to hold on to the House that may have prompted Trump to go off on him.