Republican strategist Karl Rove says President Barack Obama’s decision to play up the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden was “a dumb move” politically and “a bad mistake for the Obama campaign.”
“It is so over the top that it takes the president and moves him from being in the frame of a statesman who made an important decision, to being a guy who is using that decision to score political points — which makes him smaller,” Rove told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Tuesday night.
“Why they did it is beyond me,” said Rove, referring to a campaign advertisement that trumpets Obama’s role as commander in chief while questioning whether his Republican challenger Mitt Romney would have pulled the trigger on bin Laden.
Rove, a Fox News contributor who was former President George W. Bush’s chief political adviser, said he was particular bothered by the president not giving enough credit to all the people over two administrations who worked to track down the al-Qaida leader.
“I know the president doesn't want to give credit to anybody but his own brilliance,” Rove said. “But this effort a year ago that culminated in the death of Osama bin Laden was the work of two of administrations and thousands of people.”
Rove mentioned not only the SEAL team that carried out the mission in Pakistan, but the pilots, the intelligence operatives and “assets,” and the logistics people as deserving credit.
He said the president had simply put a big light on himself in order to launch a partisan attack “against his presumptive Republican opponent.”
“You know, Romney wouldn’t have taken out bin Laden. I’m the only guy in America who would have,” Rove said.
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