Opinion
Karl Rove criticizes Marjorie Taylor Greene for opposing African AIDS relief
“When we have Marjorie Taylor Greene saying we must stop AIDS relief effort in Africa because we've got bigger problems here at home, it's a wrecking, it's not a, it's just not thoughtful. It's, we spend a pittance, a relative pittance of what this country has …”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Rove predicts Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not impact the 2024 election
“So I, I'm dubious that he's gonna have a big impact on the election.”
Opinion
Rove: Jill Biden and Valerie Biden Owens control Biden's reelection decision
“Jill Biden and Valerie Biden Owens, his sister, wife and sister, are the two most powerful people in effecting him. And for their own reasons, they've decided we want Joe to remain and to run.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Rove: Replacing Biden makes 2024 competitive; otherwise Trump will win
“The election where today it would be Trump, and if Biden remains on the ticket, I think it will be Trump. If they swap him out, it'll be a horse race.”
Prediction Held up
Rove predicts Democrats will not replace Joe Biden with Gavin Newsom
“If they do hot swap them, it'll be, I don't know, but it won't be Newsom.”
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Rove: Democrats cannot replace Kamala Harris as the vice presidential nominee
“You cannot replace Kamala Harris. She's going to be the running mate of whoever.”
Opinion
Rove: Current U.S. political division is not the worst in modern history
“No. It's not. It's bad. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's cheery and wonderful. But even in the lifetimes of people who are around today, like me, It's been worse.”
Opinion
Rove: William McKinley was the first modern president, overshadowed by Roosevelt
“The first modern president. Overshadowed by the guy that he made, that he rescued from oblivion and put him on a path to being the figure that we know today at Theodore Roosevelt.”
Assertion Partly supported
Rove: Steve Bannon pushed for a 50% top income tax bracket
“I saw Steve Bannon the other day who was talking about how, ah, during the battle over the tax cut bill, he wanted to raise taxes so it was 50% on the top bracket. Didn't want to lower it. He wanted to raise it. Because government ought to be able to take away…”
Opinion
Karl Rove: Nancy Pelosi was effective until her final day as Speaker
“She was effective right up to the moment she gave up her speakership.”
Opinion
Rove: Economic data from China is untrustworthy due to institutionalized deceit
“Do we have really today have any confidence whatsoever in any economic number that comes out of China? No, because they all got into a system of organized, you know, deceit, because if I wanted to remain the governor of whatever province, I had to hit the, tho…”
Assertion Contradicted
Rove: Dick Cheney cast a "stupid" vote against a Nelson Mandela resolution
“Cheney was a very conservative congressman from a very conservative state, 18 years ago, and he cast some really stupid votes, like being one of three members of the House of Representatives to vote against the resolution calling on the apartheid regime of Sou…”
Assertion Supported
Rove: A $14,000 local ad buy baited John Kerry's infamous 2004 gaffe
“We bought 11,000 or 14,000 dollars worth of ads in Huntington, West Virginia. I think it was February or March of 2004. He was going to be appearing the next day in front of the VFW audience to talk about his military experience versus Bush's lack of it. So we…”
Insight
Rove: Trump operates politically like the executive producer of The Apprentice
“The best way to think of him is the executive producer of The Apprentice. He has a highly rated TV show, and his object is to think about what is it that attracts the viewer, holds the viewer, and can surprise the viewer.”
Insight
Rove: The most effective political ads reinforce conclusions voters already hold
“Ads that reinforce what we have already sort of have concluded about it and give, and put it in a frame of importance are the most powerful ads of all.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Rove: Bush fostered direct debate between junior staff and Condoleezza Rice
“Bush understood that, and he, so he tried very hard and succeeded in getting people to, you know, you'd have some junior G person from the Department of Widgets and Gadgets on one couch and Condi Rice on the other, and they'd be talking about something with di…”
Insight
Rove: A shrinking pool of swing voters holds outsized electoral leverage
“The interesting thing is that the number of people who identify as independents has grown, though a lot of them are, in essence operationally Democrats or Republicans, but the number of swing voters has declined, but it makes them more important because the tw…”
Assertion Supported
Rove: Third-party votes exceeded the margin of defeat in key battleground states
“Jill Stein, who was on 50 state ballots in 2016 and got more votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania than Hillary Clinton lost those states by, or Jurgensen, who was on the Libertarian ballot in all 50 states, And got more votes in, in Arizona, Wisconsi…”
Insight
Rove: Senior presidential advisors stifle debate if they voice opinions too early
“He knew how important it was that that that the chief and the chief and some of the senior advisors around the president encourage a robust discussion of any issue, not discourage it. And sometimes they could discourage it by simply voicing their opinion too e…”
Prediction Held up
Rove predicts each 2024 presidential campaign will spend one billion dollars
“Each side is going to spend a billion dollars.”
Insight
Rove: Attack a political opponent's perceived strength if it hides a weakness
“When I look at my opponent, I'm looking for, first of all, what are their weaknesses? You know, where are the things where they're most at odds with public opinion? And then I'm also looking for, what are the things that they think are strengths that are, in e…”
Insight
Rove: A single political ad cannot turn an election tide on its own
“One ad can't turn a tide. One ad can, if the tide is turning, it can accelerate it. But no, look, that's the thing about, it is consistent, persistent, Messaging. It's not, you know, sort of one explosive ad.”
Assertion Supported
Rove: The US PEPFAR relief program has saved 25 million lives
“Twenty-five million people alive today because of the generosity of the United States.”
Insight
Rove: Easy decisions never reach the president in the Oval Office
“None of the easy decisions show up in the Oval Office. All those get settled elsewhere. And when somebody is sitting in behind that big desk, they have to have people who walk in and can lay out the different options that they have pluses and minuses, and then…”
Karl Rove