Karl Rove Scolds Trump and the GOP After Dismal Election Day

LEFT: Donald Trump (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) RIGHT: Karl Rove (screenshot)

Legendary GOP operative Karl Rove scolded President Donald Trump and their shared party in his post-election Wall Street Journal column.

While Rove had expressed optimism about Republicans’ chances in New Jersey’s gubernatorial and Virginia’s attorney general race, Democrats ended up sweeping every major election held on Tuesday.

In the Journal, Rove analyzed where Republicans may have made mistakes, writing “the GOP has to learn that screaming ‘communist’ and ‘socialist’ at run-of-the-mill Democrats doesn’t move even die-hard MAGA voters. Explaining why a Democrat’s policies will raise costs or hurt jobs and offering a constructive, forward-looking agenda is a much better approach. Americans want to know Republicans are making life more affordable, communities safer and the economy stronger.”

He also chalked some of their struggles up to Trump:

Most concerning for the GOP, voters’ decisions Tuesday were certainly a result of their disapproval of Mr. Trump and his policies. The RealClearPolitics average that day had him at 43.4% approve, 54.4% disapprove. He has even worse numbers on the economy, foreign policy and inflation.

To turn this around, the White House will need to focus on the economy and the cost of living, speak candidly about challenges, lower expectations, temper the rhetoric, underpromise, overdeliver and stop going too far, like with Immigration and Customs Enforcement roundups at Home Depot.

Rove isn’t the only one to believe Trump played a major role in sinking GOP candidates this cycle. The Journal‘s editorial board also suggested that Tuesday ought to mark an end to “the era of MAGA triumphalism.”

“Virginia and New Jersey were always going to be uphill races for Republicans, since these odd-year gubernatorial elections sometimes go against the party in the White House. The GOP won both states in 2009 and Virginia in 2021, under Presidents Obama and Biden. This time Democrats had the advantage of rallying voters upset at President Trump,” it observed. “Exit polls showed Mr. Trump’s approval rating at 44% in New Jersey and 42% in Virginia.”