Karl Rove: Trump is ‘sort of crazy and filled with rage.’ Will Republicans move on?

Florida Republican Donald Trump is “sort of crazy and filled with rage” and cost his party 11 seats in Congress, political consultant Karl Rove told a downtown Fort Worth business crowd.

“It’s time to move on,” he said Wednesday at a charity luncheon.

It’s no surprise Rove would say that. He was the “brain” of former President George W. Bush’s campaigns and White House.

What’s new is that the business leaders — many of them former Trump donors — loudly cheered Rove.

In another indication that Republican money may be turning away from Trump faster than Republican voters, Rove drew cheers for saying bluntly that the country needs a younger leader.

“I don’t think it’s good for the country that we’re thinking of a guy who’ll be [nearly] 82 on Election Day running again,” Rove said, referring to President Joe Biden, a Delaware Democrat.

“He’s not up to it. And the other guy” — Trump — “is going to be 78. And he’s not up to it. I think it’s time for a change.”

Rove said that when he mentioned that the other night at a law enforcement dinner in Sioux Falls, South Dakota — which voted 62%-36% Trump over Biden in 2020 — “the place exploded.”

But “he’s still the most popular Republican,” Rove said.

That is no longer certain after last week.

Trump called Dec. 3 for the “termination” of the Constitution over his claims of 2020 election fraud, and pushed Southlake Republican Herschel Walker into a Georgia Senate campaign that ended in a Dec. 6 runoff defeat.

“Trump is undisciplined — you saw this in Herschel Walker,” Rove said.

Rove said he ran into Walker at an event and Walker gave him a business card. It had a Southlake address and a phone number in the 214 Dallas area code.

Trump “picked a lot of people who couldn’t win,” Rove said.

Until this month, Trump was consistently dominating polls for the 2024 Republican nomination.

But his 50%-30% lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has shrunk to about 35%-30%, according to two recent polls by New York-based YouGov.

“I just sense that the country wants to move on,” Rove said, saying that he believes voters “will say thank you, baby boomers, it’s time for a younger generation.”

Rove singled out Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, 39, as an example. Parker was a luncheon guest of the Exchange Club men’s civic club as it raised money for the Star-Telegram Goodfellow Fund to provide clothes for needy children.

Rove called Parker “one of the greatest new mayors in America.”

The former congressional and Texas House aide “is doing a terrific job as your mayor,” Rove said. “I expect to see great things out of her.”

He offered only a hazy crystal ball for 2024.

Republicans have strong choices of potential candidates, he said, naming about 12 — including DeSantis, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and new Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Democrats have a big list, too, he said, listing several governors along with current Biden adviser Mitch Landrieu of Louisiana. Rove singled out U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota as “problematic” for Republicans.

Asked about Texas’ future, Rove said Republicans “need to go back to blocking and tackling” and focus on registering newcomers to vote, he said.

Texas voters registered since the 2020 election — when the state was adding nearly 1 million people, many from California or New York — voted 59%-41% Republican, he said.

Republicans should “welcome Hispanic outreach” and “worry about the suburbs,” he said. “The things that get you elected in Abilene are different from the things that get you elected in Arlington.”

Coming off an 11-point victory, Texas Republicans aren’t really all that worried about the suburbs.

But a few worry about Trump.