Republican strategist Karl Rove suggested Friday that former President Donald Trump's approval rating could rise in the polls if he were allowed to move forward with sentencing in his New York hush-money case.
“I also agree with the idea that some other analysts have put forward, which is that ironically, it would have been in Donald Trump's interest if he had gone ahead with this,” Rove said. said on Friday Fox News' “America Report.”
“While Donald Trump's approval rating is rising in the polls, the public's reaction to his treatment in the courts is more negative,” he continued. Mediaite highlights” he said, referring to Judge Juan Marchan, who presided over the case. “And if the judge had gone ahead with it, it easily could have become an October surprise.”
The sentencing was originally scheduled for Sept. 18 but was postponed by the judge until Nov. 26. Friday's ruling ensures that the Republican candidate will not face any criminal penalties until after the election.
“In other words, [Merchan] Rove added that the ruling “could have been an attack on Donald Trump, it could have caused a totally negative reaction from the American people and it could have helped Donald Trump in the election,” but said he would uphold the judge's ruling.
“But it's a wise decision. It's good for the country not to force this into the final stages of the presidential elections,” he said.
The former president was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records during the 2016 election cycle to pay hush money to a female adult film star over allegations of past affairs.
Trump and his lawyers have repeatedly pressed the judge to delay the trial, citing recent Supreme Court decisions on presidential immunity. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, had previously said he would not oppose a delay, but his office wrote in a letter on Tuesday that the case should not be halted while the Republican candidate's team seeks to move the case to federal court.
Trump's latest victory comes as he and Democratic rival Vice President Harris are scheduled to go head-to-head in a debate hosted by ABC News next Tuesday.
The debate will also be the second presidential debate of the current campaign this term, following the disastrous results of the previous debate between Biden and Trump, which led to calls for the incumbent president to step down. Biden announced in late July that he had dropped out of the race and was endorsing Harris.
The Hill/Decision Desk National Polling Index shows Harris currently leading Trump by 3.8 percentage points (49.5 percent to 45.7 percent), but polling averages in several battleground states, including Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia, show the two candidates either tied or with Harris leading by a much narrower margin.
