Karl Rove Trashes Trump Economic Speech: ‘He Went Everywhere — And Therefore Nowhere’

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

Karl Rove, the architect of former President George W. Bush’s White House campaigns and conservative commentator, trashed President Donald Trump’s economic speech in Iowa last month in his latest column for The Wall Street Journal.

After emphasizing the importance of the economy to the electorate and observing that Trump’s team “hoped his appearance in a Des Moines suburb would recenter the discussion,” the legendary GOP operative delivered some tough love:

It didn’t. Mr. Trump made two mistakes.

The first was straying from the subject for almost half his speech. Victories and stolen elections. Immigration. Introducing politicians on the stage. Attacking his predecessor for multiple sins. Lots of different foreign issues. He went everywhere—and therefore nowhere.

The second problem was Mr. Trump’s triumphal tone. He congratulated himself on “the greatest first year of any administration in American history.” The “economy is booming,” he said. It’s been “the best first year of any president ever maybe.”

All this left the impression that the nation’s economic challenges are solved. He made the same mistake President Biden did with the constant refrain that “Bidenomics is working.” Mr. Trump’s declaring that “under my leadership, economic growth is exploding to numbers unheard of” isn’t just exaggerated. It makes people who are suffering feel unseen and abandoned.

“The president should stop bragging. Many Americans, especially swing voters, feel things aren’t good,” argued Rove, who recommended that Trump explain why his predecessor is responsible for high prices and what he’s doing to fix it, as well as “stress there’s more to be done.”

“House and Senate Republicans shouldn’t wait for Mr. Trump’s messaging to become focused. Nor should they depend on the economy getting better, even if it will. The president’s voice can be powerful. More potent would be hundreds of candidates selling a conservative reform agenda like the one the House Republican Study Committee developed,” he concluded. “For GOP success this fall, Republicans need a better economic message than what Americans heard from the president in Iowa.”

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