Karl Rove condemns Donald Trump’s ‘childish attacks’ on Ron DeSantis

Karl Rove. Image via AP.

A former key adviser to George W. Bush is accusing another former President of “punching down” at Ron DeSantis.

During a Saturday interview on the Fox News Channel‘s Cavuto Live, Karl Rove castigated Donald Trump for “childish attacks” against the Florida Governor, a likely opponent in the 2024 Republican Presidential Primaries.

“So he’s punching down and I don’t think it looks good. You know he the attacks on DeSantis I think work to DeSantis’ advantage,” Rove said, calling it a “mistake for the former president to punch down, but he likes punching and if he has to punch down he’s gonna keep punching.”

“But I think it works to his disadvantage,” Rove added. “It makes him look small, makes him look weak.”

Rove singled out Trump for “scorched earth policies” against the Florida Governor, a frequent target of the former President since late last year, accusing Trump of “a bunch of childish attacks.”

“Governor DeSanctimonious, President Trump called him, and then went after him for for for having closed down Florida (early in the 2020 pandemic), forgetting to admit two things.”

“One is that Governor DeSantis closed down Florida at the direction of President Trump. And second, Florida opened up earlier than most other states in the country, at the direction of Governor DeSantis.”

Despite Trump’s torrent of abuse toward DeSantis, Rove believes the discourse hasn’t “risen to dangerous levels.”

“What really concerns me is if people go after each other in a way that is destructive and debates and so forth, where the object is to cripple somebody else as opposed to advancing your own views and an agenda,” Rove advised.

Rove has previously advised DeSantis to take his time getting into the Presidential race, and resist the temptation from Trump, who he said is “trying to speed up the calendar.” Central to that strategy is a fusillade of insults, some on record and some apparently on background, from the former President.

Trump knocked down reports that he maligned DeSantis as “Meatball Ron” overnight on his Truth Social account. That was his second disavowal of so-called “fake news” suggesting that he was looking to improve on the “Ron DeSanctimonious” moniker he coined for DeSantis at a rally last year.

“Ron DeSanctimonious” is much lengthier than classic put-downs like “Little Marco,” “Lyin’ Ted,” “Low Energy Jeb,” and “Sleepy Joe,” punchy pejoratives for Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and President Joe Biden respectively, but it appears that’s the official version despite credible reporting to the contrary.

Maggie Haberman and Michael Bender reported in the New York Times that Trump “has insulted DeSantis in casual conversations, describing him as ‘Meatball Ron,’ an apparent dig at his appearance, or ‘Shutdown Ron,’ a reference to restrictions the governor put in place at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Trump recycled “Ron DeSanctimonious” earlier this month, when trying to heat up a controversy with a re-truth on a post with text on an image stating, “Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher.”

The picture purportedly dates back to the Governor’s short-lived career as a teacher at a college preparatory academy, where he reportedly fraternized with students.

Trump has also workshopped other insults, including at the beginning of February, when he took to his Truth Social account to whack DeSantis as a “globalist” and a “RINO” (Republican in name only).

“Thank you. The real Ron is a RINO GLOBALIST, who closed quickly down Florida and even its beaches. Loved the Vaccines and wasted big money on ‘Testing.’ How quickly people forget!”