Karl Rove Breaks Out the Whiteboard to Slam Beto O’Rourke: ‘Lesser Lights of the Democratic Party’

Republican strategist and Fox News contributor Karl Rove brought out his whiteboard to rip into Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), after the Texan called his fellow Democrats “lazy.”

Rove was brought on to America’s Newsroom to talk disarray in the Democratic Party Tuesday,  as O’Rourke has emerged as another liberal voice hoping to right the ship.

Over the weekend, O’Rourke slammed Democratic leadership on MSNBC’s The Weekend, saying the party “unfortunately has gotten lazy.”

When presented with that clip by co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, Rove did not hold back.

He began with an attack on O’Rourke’s name, saying, “I don’t recognize that guy. I do recognize a guy named Robert Francis O’Rourke.”

Then, pointing to his whiteboard, Rove attacked O’Rourke’s latest political record: “He lost a senate race in Texas, his presidential campaign imploded because of over amount of navel-gazing and he lost the governor’s race.”

“Right now it’s a circular firing squad led, in my mind, by people like O’Rourke and — Jasmine Crockett for God’s sake. We’re talking about the lesser lights of the Democratic Party attempting to use this moment to try to shine a little more light on them and advance their own political careers at the expense of their party.

Read the conversation below:

BILL HEMMER: Those are Democrats still soul searching look to revamp a party and reconnect with voters. Karl Rove’s has thoughts on this. Good morning. One person looking at this is Beto O’Rourke. He says he used the word lazy. Here we go, roll it.

O’ROURKE: I think our party unfortunately has gotten lazy and overly enamored of seven so-called battleground or blue wall states to the detriment of Alabama and Mississippi and Texas and Louisiana. Those are our fellow Americans, too. And I don’t blame them for saying, “Hey, the Democratic Party hasn’t been showing up for me, and listening to me, fighting for me.

HEMMER: What do you think about that?

ROVE: Well, I don’t recognize that guy. I do recognize a guy name Robert Francis O’Rourke. And let’s remember his record. He lost a senate race in Texas, his presidential campaign imploded because of over amount of navel gazing and he lost the governor’s race. What he is recommending is that the Democrats prioritize Mississippi and Alabama — good luck on that. There’s gonna be no chance in our lifetime to turn those states blue. But look, the Democratic Party’s in bad shape. It has to begin anew. The question is gonna to be, do they follow Bernie Sanders who basically his criticism that you ran at the beginning was we weren’t left wing enough in our past election?

We have had four years of one of the most progressive administrations in the history of our country under Joe Biden and a left-wing candidate for president and it didn’t work. So we’ll see how the Democrats sort this all out. But right now it’s a circular firing squad led, in my mind, by people like O’Rourke and — Jasmine Crockett for God’s sake. We’re talking about the lesser lights of the Democratic Party attempting to use this moment to try to shine a little more light on them and advance their own political careers at the expense of their party.

DANA PERINO: So here are two different headlines. I think they are in contrast with each other, still trying to get to an answer on the same problem. First is the “New York magazine” headline that the liberal tea moment is here for Democrats. It’s going to be a long, hot summer for incumbents. Then you have this financial times data that shows Democrats have shifted sharply to the left on cultural issues in recent leaves leaving the median voter behind. If you think about the liberal tea party moment, to me, it would mean there is something about economics. But it is the cultural issues also that they have a huge problem with.

ROVE: Well, they have a problem at both fronts. They’re seen as the party of inflation and the party of DEI, and a lot of goofy left-wing nostrum. So, look at the successful Democrats in recent years in battleground states. They have been people who have been able to cross party lines, to be able to draw people together and to be able to get Independents and some Republicans to vote for ’em.

People like Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania or the two senators in Georgia who won in 2021. Raphael Warnock won re-election in 2024. I mean, we’re talking about is the Democratic Party going to go left or get back in the middle of the political spectrum? It’s a big question yet to be answered how they play out over the next 12 or 14 months before the next year’s election’s gonna be critical. Because by next summer, the summer after this, it will all be set for the mid-term general election.

HEMMER: I quoted you as the “lesser lights.” Sounds like the title of your next column in the Wall Street Journal. (laughs) We’ll see if I’m right about that. Thank you Karl. Nice to see you.

Watch above via Fox News.