Karl Rove Warns Trump’s Obsession with 2020 Election Could Hurt GOP in 2022 and 2024
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Veteran Republican operative Karl Rove warned this week that Donald Trump’s “obsession with alleged election fraud” in 2020 could harm his party in future elections.
Rove, the former aide to President George W. Bush, argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Wednesday that Trump’s habit of endorsing candidates that embrace his allegations of election fraud in 2020 could hurt the GOP’s electoral chances in 2022 and 2024.
Rove noted,
President Trump has formally endorsed 85 Republican candidates so far this year, probably far more than any other president so soon after leaving office. He’s backed incumbents, primary challengers and candidates in open races for everything from the Senate and House down to state representatives and even a small-town mayor’s office, often with statements offering his “Complete and Total Endorsement!”
“Settling scores is a high priority for the former president,” Rove said in explaining Trump’s willingness to endorse in primaries where Republicans already hold the seat. Rove added that Trump endorsements are likely a way for him to “maintain his hold over the GOP and keep open the possibility of a 2024 White House run.”
He noted, however, that Trump’s “complete and total” endorsement is “hardly a guarantee of an election victory.” Rove pointed out a few of Trump’s recent picks that didn’t fare too well: Susan Wright lost a Texas special congressional election in July to another Republican, and Sean Parnell dropped out of the Pennsylvania Senate race amid accusations of domestic abuse.
While Trump’s picks from Max Miller in Ohio to Herschel Walker in Georgia are considered risky propositions for the GOP given those candidates’ personal scandals, Rove pointed out Trump’s picks have a bigger concern going forward:
All these candidates face a critical choice: Should they focus on Mr. Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen to protect their endorsement? Or should they make their race about providing a check on President Biden and risk incurring Mr. Trump’s wrath?
He concluded that by using the “big lie” as a kind of litmus test for his endorsements, Trump has potentially set the GOP up for failure.
Rove concluded,
Mr. Trump could help some Democrats hang on in an otherwise devastating election cycle in 2022 by forcing their opponents to harangue voters about an unpopular topic. If the GOP can’t learn to shake the Trump obsession with alleged election fraud, the former president could even hand Democrats the White House—again.
