Former George W. Bush aide Karl Rove suggested Saturday that voters can learn a lot about candidates by “how they trade blows,” as the battle between former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is heating up ahead of the 2024 GOP primary.
“We learn a lot about the candidates by how we see how they market the explosions,” he told Fox News. “We get a sense of their character, we know their thought process, we get their inner strength. We decide whether they like them or not. And it’s a helpful process.”
Rove, who served as Bush’s senior advisor and deputy chief of staff, warned that the fight during the primaries could be “excessive.” However, he also noted that issues in primaries are often difficult for the opposition to “pick up and run with.”
“Primaries can hurt parties if they become bitter and divisive, but people expect, you know, they want to see how you handle the controversy that you see in a general election,” he added. he.
Since DeSantis officially launched his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination last month, he and Trump have ratcheted up their attacks on each other.
Trump criticized DeSantis’ record on COVID-19, claiming that “even” former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) is better than the Florida governor. DeSantis fired back at the former president, saying how Trump “said how great Florida is.”
“Hell, his whole family moved to Florida under my governorship,” DeSantis added.
Trump has also continued to use the nickname “Ron DeSantimonious” for his opponent, recently dismissing it as “petty” and “childish.”
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