Republican strategist Karl Rove warned Wednesday that former President Trump and President Biden are liabilities to their parties and whichever party replaces its leading candidate is most likely to win the presidential race in 2024.
“Neither party’s front-runner will be easily dislodged. But if no changes are made, Americans will get the worst dumpster fire of a campaign in history,” Rove wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
“It doesn’t have to be this way, and everyone but Messrs. Trump and Biden has good reason to try changing it. The party that picks a fresh face will likely win the White House,” he added.
Rove cautioned Democrats not to be too enthusiastic about the results of the Tuesday elections — when Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection in conservative Kentucky; when Ohioans voted to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution; and when Virginia Democrats gained control of their state legislature.
He pointed to the recent New York Times/Siena College poll showing Biden’s poor performance in swing states and with key voter blocs. He also noted GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley would beat Biden in all six swing states — outperforming Trump in many key races.
Rove cautioned Republicans to be concerned, too.
“Both party’s front-runners have enormous weaknesses. Joe and Jill Biden are deluding themselves if they believe only he can defeat Mr. Trump,” he wrote. “But the GOP leader could sink his own campaign with his constant trashing of his intra-party rivals and their supporters. Turned off, they could fail to turn out or even turn away from the GOP.”
Rove has been critical of Trump in the past, calling his campaign rhetoric “petty, small and unimportant” on Fox News in the spring.
Recent polling has suggested the American public is also dreading a rematch between the two leading candidates.