Rove: Podesta's Jonestown Remarks Typical of 'Vicious' White House

Karl Rove, who was senior White House adviser to President George W. Bush, isn't surprised at what he called partisan, vicious attacks from the man taking over the same position in President Barack Obama's administration.

Incoming White House counselor John Podesta has apologized for comparing House Republicans to the Jonestown cult, which committed mass suicide and killed a U.S. congressman in 1978. Republicans refused to accept the apology.

"It's representative of the general attitude inside the White House," Rove said Thursday on Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."

Even Obama has described House efforts to pass a budget as "un-American," he noted.

"Why should we be surprised?" Rove said. "The Obama administration is going to be intensely partisan, intensely political, and vicious in their attacks on Republicans."