‘Move On – You Didn’t Win the Election’: Karl Rove Pans Trump’s Bogus Claim in CPAC Speech

Republican operative Karl Rove responded to former President Donald Trump’s missive against him in the latter’s CPAC speech.

Trump, who has railed against the GOP establishment since first declaring his candidacy for president in 2015, jabbed the former adviser to George W. Bush in a lengthy address on Saturday.

“[W]e are never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove, and Jeb Bush,” Trump told CPAC attendees in Maryland.

Appearing on Monday’s The Story on Fox News, Rove was asked about the dig.

“President Trump went after you at one point, went after other Republicans [and] said you know, that’s not the direction we’re going anymore,” Martha MacCallum said. “We’re moving hard on America first and this is the last battle, everyone knows it. The country could be lost forever.”

“I was happy to be named in the middle of Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush,” Rove responded. “But you know, I think the president’s speech was a good one, but not a great one.”

Rove cited Trump’s call to build 10 new “freedom cities,” which he described as “a little weird.”

He also addressed Trump’s false claim that he actually won the 2020 election, claiming that it was rigged against him.

“We did have the recitation that he actually won the 2020 election and that he won it by a lot, which I think, people are over that,” he continued. “Just move on – you didn’t win. You aren’t president of the United States. Stay focused on the future.”

Rove went on to laud Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is widely seen as a potential presidential contender and challenger to Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024.

“DeSantis is laying the predicate for a presidential campaign,” he said. “I think it’s a smart move. It’s preliminary to becoming a presidential candidate.”

Watch above via Fox News.