Karl Rove Tells Brian Kilmeade Donald Trump's Ohio Senator Riff Was Off-Message

Karl Rove, the Republican strategist who was George W. Bush's chief political adviser, said Donald Trump's closing midterm rallies lack a disciplined message. His example was the president's riff on the physique of Ohio Senator Jon Husted.

Rove spoke on Thursday's Brian Kilmeade Show as Trump started a run of rallies through the final days before the November 3 elections. Kilmeade defended the president. He said traditional Republicans like Rove do not understand Trump's appeal.

Karl Rove on Trump's Husted Remark

Kilmeade asked whether Trump's rallies were bringing out MAGA voters. Rove said: "We won't know until election day." He said he would "feel a lot better if there was a deliberate strategy where they said, look, this is the message we're gonna deliver."

Rove said Trump instead "goes off and starts talking about the posterior of" Husted. "I'm thinking, what kind of a message is that?" Rove said. He added that a campaign stop should be planned around one thing: "sure, you wanna entertain, but you wanna have what's the dominant message of the day."

Rove also took aim at Trump's habit of taking questions from reporters on his way to Marine One. "It is not a plus, it is not a plus every time to answer every question from the press," he said. He added that Trump "said lots of things that are problematic, in my opinion" at a recent session.

Brian Kilmeade Says Rove Does Not 'Get Trump'

Kilmeade argued with Rove on air. "I'll take his side, you ready? That's an athlete, you are addressing an athlete," he said.

Rove was not persuaded. "Promise me this, you're never gonna comment adversely or favorably on my posterior. It's just weird," he said.

After Rove's segment ended, the show aired the remark from the rally. In the clip, Trump told the crowd he had not known Husted was a great athlete, so he studied the senator's body. "I looked at his ass," Trump said.

Kilmeade then gave his own verdict: "I find that funny, you hear the audience, traditional Republicans like Karl Rove don't, and I tell them that, he doesn't get Trump, he appreciates him, but they fight a lot, Karl Rove and Trump."

Kilmeade also said the outcome would come down to turnout: "we'll see if the MAGA vote gets out and one or 2% could make the difference."

Trump's Final-Week Rally Schedule

On air, Kilmeade read out the president's coming stops and placed Monday's rally in Missouri. Rove corrected him: "Not to correct you, but on Monday, he's not gonna be in Missouri, he's gonna be in Mississippi."

Trump held a rally in Sioux City, Iowa on Thursday. Kilmeade listed the next stops as Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday, Perry, Georgia, on Saturday and St. Clair County, Michigan, on Sunday. The Georgia rally has moved from Macon to Perry. Rove said Monday's stop is in Mississippi. A Waco rally planned for Tuesday has been cancelled, and Trump is now expected in Corpus Christi instead, KBTX reported. Kilmeade said an Ohio stop would follow on Wednesday.

Most of those states have a Senate race on the ballot, and in several of them the Republican is behind:

What Is at Stake for Jon Husted in Ohio

Husted was appointed to the seat JD Vance gave up to become vice president. He is now in a special election against former Senator Sherrod Brown, and Trump has rallied in Ohio for him. PolitiKool's polling average puts Brown ahead 48.7 percent to 45.5 percent.

The president's own numbers are no help to Republicans in races like this one. PolitiKool's polling average has Trump's approval at 37.5 percent, with 59.4 percent disapproving. Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by 8.5 points.

Rove said on the same show that tight races could still swing. He told Kilmeade the Texas Senate race was "a jump ball" but that Talarico would win it "if the election were today."

There are 11 days until Election Day, and Kilmeade said Trump's schedule runs through November 3.