GOP strategist Karl Rove advised Democrats to strongly focus on former President Trump's comments about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, criticizing his pledge to release jailed rioters as a "major error."
Rove told MSNBC's Ari Melber that it would be wise for Democrats to emphasize the Jan. 6 events and highlight Trump's intention to pardon those who assaulted the Capitol.
During an interview aired on Wednesday, Rove stated, "One of the key mistakes made in this campaign is that Donald Trump has now said, 'I’m going to pardon those people because they’re hostages.' No, they’re not. They’re thugs."
Trump recently stated that if he is elected president again, his first action will be to free the imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters. He referred to the incarcerated Jan. 6 rioters as "hostages." The former president has shown sympathy for those charged in connection with the insurrection on numerous occasions and spoke at a fundraiser organized for Jan. 6 defendants. Trump’s motive for this behavior is unclear to Rove, who criticized Trump for appearing in videos with individuals who assaulted police during the riots. Over 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, when groups of rioters stormed the Capitol to halt Congress’s certification of the 2020 election results.
Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff for George W. Bush, strongly condemned the rioters’ actions, stating, “What those people did when they violently attacked the Capitol in order to stop a constitutionally mandated meeting of the Congress to accept the results of the Electoral College is a stain on our history.”
He added, “And every one of those individuals who did that, we should identify them, try them and send them to jail.”
The strategist emphasized that although he is a Republican and doesn’t want a Democrat in the White House, he cannot support the former president's actions.
I think as a nation, we have to make a decision on what kind of leadership we want,” Rove explained. “It's a mistake for the Trump campaign to align the president with the people who attacked the Capitol instead of those who advocate law and order.”
Trump is currently facing federal and state criminal charges in Washington, D.C., and Georgia over alleged attempts to overturn the election results after losing to President Biden in 2020.
The Hill sought comment from Trump’s campaign.
Republican strategist Karl Rove urged Democrats to “go hard” at former President Trump’s rhetoric surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, calling the former president’s pledge to free imprisoned rioters a “critical mistake.” “If they were smart, they’d take the Jan. 6 and go hard at it. And they would say, ‘He wants…
The Hill reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment.
