Republican strategist Karl Rove said former President Trump needed to take back control of the campaign because he was in a “subordinate role” compared to Vice President Harris.
In an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on Saturday, Rove outlined what Trump and Harris need to do to bolster their campaign in the coming weeks. He said the week after the Democratic National Convention is “critical” for Harris and that she needs to “position herself” ahead of the general election and find ways to attack Trump.
“I think the attitude leading up to Labor Day is really going to matter, so she’s going to have to show a big audience and enthusiastic support at the Chicago convention,” Rove said of Harris.
He then shifted the topic to Trump, noting that he too has his “challenges.”
“Trump faces a challenge. He has a weakness in Harris. He has to find the right message to counter her. As Lucas said, he has 101 days from today and then he has to take back control of the conversation,” he said Saturday.
“He’s clearly in a subordinate position. I think he’s uncomfortable with that and he prefers being the one who sets the tempo of the campaign. But that’s not happening,” he said.
Harris has been in the spotlight this week after President Biden dropped out of the race last week to endorse her, raising more than $200 million in her first week of the campaign to rally support among Democratic voters.
Since Biden dropped out of the race, early polls have shown good news for Harris’ campaign and the Democratic Party, with some national polls showing a close race between Harris and Trump. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll gave Harris a two-point lead, while another New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump leading Biden by one point.
Rove said Saturday that nine polls have been conducted nationwide since Biden dropped out of the race and warned that it will be a close race between Harris and Trump.
“If you combine those nine polls, Trump has a lead of 0.88 percentage points – so basically 0.9 percent – and that’s after he got some momentum going at the convention, where he really showed unity among Republican candidates within the Republican Party,” he said.
“So this is going to be a hard-fought battle and no one knows what the outcome will be. The next two to three weeks will be crucial for both sides,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
