Karl Rove Warns GOP to Play Offense After Trump’s BBB Passes
Former President George W. Bush’s top adviser warned Republicans not to rest on their laurels.
Karl Rove warned Republicans not to think that the work is over once President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” goes into effect.
As the House of Representatives prepared for its final vote on the spending bill Thursday, Rove told Fox News’ America’s Newsroom that Trump and the GOP need to sell the bill to the public.
“There’s going to be always a tendency to say we got the bill passed, ‘Oh, let’s all take the time off and God, we got it done,’” Rove said. “The Republicans had better go on the offense and say, ‘We are doing what you told us to do.’”
Karl Rove says that the “the work is just beginning" for Republicans and the administration following Trump's BBB.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Fox News anchor Aishah Hasnie then asked how Republicans could “win this messaging war” despite a Fox News poll showing 59 percent of Americans have a negative view of the bill.
Rove replied that, once the bill gets passed, there are “three other steps that need to be taken” to turn public opinion around.
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“First of all, the president needs to lead the effort to go out and explain it,” Rove said. “He has the biggest megaphone in America. He needs to deploy it on explaining why this is the right thing to do and what it’s going to do for people.”
Karl Rove said that Republicans need to "go on the offense" after the "Big, Beautiful, Bill" gets passed.
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for The Atlantic
He noted that Democrats have pilloried the bill because of its massive Medicaid cuts, which are projected to strip 12 million Americans of health insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
“The president needs to go out and say that people are going to lose their coverage are the able-bodied who refuse to work,” he said, as well as “illegal aliens” and others who “don’t belong in the system.”
Rove credited Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for helping get the "Big, Beautiful Bill" passed.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Finally, Republicans must “underpromise and overdeliver” by lowering expectations. The president should tell Americans: “This is going to take time to make its impact felt,” and “It’s going to help strengthen our economy and control our spending,” Rove said.
Shortly after Rove’s appearance on Fox News, Trump’s bill passed with a 218-214 vote, with two Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania voting against it.
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