Karl Rove: Trump’s increased attacks show he’s worried about DeSantis in 2024

Fox News contributor and former George W. Bush aide Karl Rove went after former President Trump on Saturday, saying that he is “worried” about a potential challenge from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary.

Rove commented on a new attack ad from a Trump political action committee that targeted DeSantis, making fun of the Florida governor for a reported story that he ate pudding with his fingers and is generally socially awkward.

“Donald Trump is worried about Ron DeSantis, otherwise why would he be out there now before DeSantis is even a candidate?” Rove told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto.

DeSantis, despite teasing a White House bid for months, has not officially declared his candidacy for president. Trump, however, has been leading the Republican race in hypothetical 2024 polls against DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and others who have been rumored to launch a bid soon, such as former Vice President Mike Pence.

Rove said that Trump’s singular focus on making fun of his political rivals and negative ads is “not smart” and won’t likely help him to win.

“Every time Donald Trump sees somebody he’s upset about, he demands that (his team) strike out at them and it’s not smart,” Rove said. “At the end of the day, if Donald Trump wants to win an election — he lost in 2020, he had 94% of Republicans — do you think this is going to encourage people who want to save Medicare and Social Security from going bankrupt?” 

“He needs to lay out his vision and spend less time worrying about personally assaulting other Republicans,” he added.

Rove also said that Republicans should be united in 2024, and that negative ads and personal attacks are not the way to do it.

“He’s sitting there at Mar-a-Lago thinking up insults about fellow Republicans and then expecting them to fall in line behind him in a November election if he wins the nomination,” he said. “That’s the wrong way to do it.”

The former White House deputy chief of staff also said that the attacks have scared off many independent voters that are critical to winning elections. While the strategy worked in 2016, it won’t work again, he said.

“You can pull that act off a little bit when you’re running against Hillary Clinton,” Rove said. “He couldn’t pull it off running against Joe Biden and he’s in worse shape today than he was two years ago.”

Recent polls have placed Trump far ahead of DeSantis, with a Morning Consult poll from earlier this month giving him a 33 point lead in a hypothetical primary.