President Donald Trump "went down the right path" with his attacks on the policies and statements made by "squad" Democrats, but then he went "too far," with his personal attacks, political strategist Karl Rove said Friday. Rove added it was smart for Trump to disavow chants made at his rally this week.
"It is one thing to go after the squad, who have these outrageously fringe views on everything," Rove told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" about the back-and-forth between the president and Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley. "But remember, who are the key voter group up for grabs in 2020? Swing voters primarily in the suburbs."
Such voters are open to arguments that the Democratic Party has drifted too far left, said Rove, but "they don't like it to go over the line in personal attacks. I think they took the president's tweets as that. They certainly took the chant at his rally to 'send her home' as over the top."
For that reason, Trump was "wise" by choosing to "suffer some temporary political pain by saying, 'I didn't like the chant,'" said Rove. "It was a smart move on his part."
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fighting on two fronts, said Rove, with 40% of the Democratic caucus supporting Trump's impeachment, and "a second war with the squad who want to push the Democratic Party in the House to the far left ... she knows as speaker that this puts her majority in jeopardy."
Rove also discussed new Federal Election Commission records showing Trump raised more than $3 million in itemized contributions this year from California, beating all but two of his Democratic rivals.
"We shouldn't be surprised that Trump raises so much money out of California," said Rove. "The most important number is this: 93% of his contributors are $200 or less, which means they can reload and keep sending money."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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