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Party realignments had Karl Rove setting the record straight as a viral clip prompted many to treat his comments as a presidential endorsement.

Akin to the pandemonium Ghostbuster Peter Venkman snarked about with “Dogs and cats living together!” the 2024 election found Democrats jumping ship to side with Republicans while RINOs, both known and previously unidentified, found comfort with their leftist inclinations.

Making sure to distance himself from that latter category, the Republican strategist and onetime senior advisor to then-President George W. Bush, saw fit to respond to a clip of remarks he made earlier this year being used to contend he was actively stumping for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Reacting to one particular account going as far as to state he was rallying for the Democratic Party nominee in Pennsylvania, Rove wrote on X, “It’s amazing what people come up with and what they’ll fall for. This clip is from the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival in February. I have not been in Pennsylvania since September when I gave a speech to folks in the healthcare industry. I have not been rallying for Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania or anywhere else nor organizing any state for her.”

In the clip in question from the Feb. 2024 event in California, the talking head weighed in on former President Donald Trump’s decision to align himself with Jan. 6 prisoners on a panel with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, Trump’s first Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

“Look, I’m a Republican. I don’t want to have a Democrat president; I want to have a Republican president. But we’re facing, as a country, a decision — and you know what, everybody gets to make it — as to what kind of leadership we’re gonna have,” the strategist said in part. “And to me, it is a mistake on the part of the Trump campaign to allow the president’s impulses to identify himself with the people who assaulted the Capitol rather than people who stand for law and order.”

A community note tacked onto the post shared by the commentator noted, “While Rove is a known Trump critic, he has also spoken negatively about the Harris campaign and has not endorsed her.”

A recent example of Rove’s air of neutrality on the 2024 presidential election found him reacting to President Joe Biden embarking on a “farewell tour” as harmful to Harris’ campaign efforts.

“President Biden’s gonna go out and say, ‘Look what a great job I’ve done?’ He’s underwater,” the strategist said to Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino. “People don’t think he did a great job. He’s gonna suck up the airtime that would otherwise go to Kamala Harris, he’s gonna give Trump a big, juicy target to hit at, and it’s gonna remind the American people exactly why they’re grateful that he’s no longer running. This is a stupid maneuver by the White House. I’m sure Mar-a-Lago is cheering.”

Despite the pushback on the endorsement claims, the fact that Rove was outlining a line of attack for the left to use against Trump didn’t help his insistence that he remained a Republican.

Kevin Haggerty
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