President Biden has signaled growing interest in a potential re-election bid with perhaps the biggest sign yet at last week’s state dinner with French President Macron toasting to Biden’s 2024 run, according to a New York Times report. However, Karl Rove, a veteran GOP strategist and Fox News contributor, believes Biden will ultimately not be the Democratic nominee and if he is, it would a ‘big mistake’ for the party.
‘I do not think Biden will ultimately be a candidate,’ Rove told Fox News Digital. ‘The country is not going to be excited about an 82-year-old who’s struggling. About the only person he could beat is Donald J. Trump.’
While the president mulls a potential run over the holidays, as White House chief of staff Ron Klain said he would, a majority of potential Democratic primary challengers still will not commit to supporting a Biden 2024 ticket publicly.
‘Anybody — but Biden — who can come across as a traditional, sensible Democrat’ will win the Democratic nomination and potentially the presidency, according to Rove.
In the aftermath of the Georgia Senate runoff, some even included newly re-elected Sen. Raphael Warnock in the list of potential Democratic challengers to Biden.
‘If Warnock had been opposed by a traditional Republican who was not so embraced by Trump and was capable of running a credible campaign, Warnock would have been defeated. The Republicans won every statewide race in Georgia this year without a runoff, except the U.S. Senate race,’ Rove said.
On the Republican side, the pool of potential GOP primary challengers to former President Trump continues to grow. The list of potentials includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence — though no Republican besides Trump has announced their intention to run.
Trump, who kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign in November, has taken heat from some in his party who blame the former president for the GOP’s underwhelming performance in the midterms and his part in endorsing unelectable candidates in the primary.
‘After getting kicked in the head three times — losing in 2018, losing in 2020 and losing in 2022 — I think Republicans are going to be really focused on winning,’ Rove said.
That winning strategy for Republicans does not include the former president as the nominee in 2024, according to Rove.
In some ways, the current political environment mirrors that of 2016, when Trump’s presidential ambitions were met with a wall of opposition from the Republican Party. Despite this coincidence, Rove shot down the idea that the country is on course to repeat the 2016 election — in part because he anticipates a much smaller pool of candidates compared to the 17 Republican hopefuls in 2016.
‘The country faces big challenges, and we need to have steady leadership to right the ship and put the country in the right direction, and somebody who can serve two terms,’ said Rove. ‘Donald Trump is not going to be a steady leader. He’s going to be as erratic as he’s demonstrated in the last couple of months, calling for the termination of the Constitution.’
When asked if there was a need to rethink party leadership in the aftermath of the midterms, Rove expressed support for Ronna McDaniel to serve another term as chair of the Republican National Committee. McDaniel faces challenges from former Trump lawyer Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
On the current battle for House Speakership, the GOP strategist believes House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy deserves his shot at the post.
‘My view is to stay with the one that brung you. And the guy who brought the Republicans to a majority is Kevin McCarthy.’