Fox News contributor and former George W. Bush aide Karl Rove criticized former President Trump’s attacks against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday.
On Fox News’s “The Story,” Rove called Trump’s campaign rhetoric “petty, small and unimportant” and said he thinks Trump is “making a mistake” with the attacks.
“The former president is better [off] spending his time talking about what it is that he wants to do rather than trying to run down his opponents. Right now, ‘Ron DeSanctimonious,’ I mean, first of all, what does that mean?” Rove said, referring to one of Trump’s choice nicknames for the governor.
“I mean, Ron DeSantis has higher favorables than the former president. So he’s sort of punching — punching down in one way [at] somebody that not everybody knows, but also punching up because the guy’s more popular than he is,” Rove said.
DeSantis hasn’t launched an official White House bid but is widely considered a top possible contender who could join Trump in the 2024 GOP primary ring — though Trump has polled at the top of a hypothetical Republican pack.
The former president has frequently bashed DeSantis, along with other current or potential challengers, signaling he too believes the Florida governor will join the race.
Rove’s comments followed a recent ad in which Trump called DeSantis by the “DeSanctimonious” nickname and said he “needs a personality transplant, and those are not yet available.”