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- The longtime GOP operative Karl Rove on Wednesday became one of the most notable Republicans to break from President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election.
- The Trump campaign has been waging several court battles in an attempt to get recounts or toss out mail-in ballots, baselessly citing widespread voter fraud.
- In a Wall Street Journal op-ed article, Rove wrote that “the president’s efforts are unlikely to move a single state from Mr. Biden’s column, and certainly they’re not enough to change the final outcome.”
- “Once his days in court are over, the president should do his part to unite the country by leading a peaceful transition and letting grievances go,” Rove wrote.
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Karl Rove, a high-profile Republican operative who was the architect of George W. Bush’s presidency, on Wednesday became one of the most notable defections from President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the election.
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is correct that Mr. Trump is ‘100% within his rights’ to go to court over concerns about fraud and transparency,” Rove wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed article. “But the president’s efforts are unlikely to move a single state from Mr. Biden’s column, and certainly they’re not enough to change the final outcome.”
A handful of Republican senators have broken with Trump and congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on his victory — such as Sens. Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski — along with some other notable Republicans including former President George W. Bush, his brother Jeb Bush, and former Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.
In his appearances on Fox News throughout Trump’s term, Rove has largely been sympathetic to the president.
He dedicated much of the op-ed article to arguing how Trump’s improvements among Latino and Black voters were a credit to his success, but he ultimately came down more harshly than most other high-profile Republicans regarding Trump’s refusal to concede.
"To win, Mr. Trump must prove systemic fraud, with illegal votes in the tens of thousands," Rove wrote. "There is no evidence of that so far."
Rove made a central point in his argument that the recounts being demanded by the Trump campaign simply wouldn't be enough to change the results based on historical standards.
"There are only three statewide contests in the past half-century in which recounts changed the outcome: the 1974 New Hampshire Senate race, the 2004 Washington governor's contest, and the 2008 Minnesota Senate election," he wrote. "The candidates in these races were separated, respectively, by 355, 261 and 215 votes after Election Day.
"These margins aren't much like today's. Mr. Biden led Wednesday in Wisconsin by 20,540 votes, Pennsylvania by 49,064, Michigan by 146,123, Arizona by 12,614, Nevada by 36,870 and Georgia by 14,108."
Closing out his piece, Rove said Trump should concede for the good of the country.
"Closing out this election will be a hard but necessary step toward restoring some unity and political equilibrium," he wrote.
"Once his days in court are over, the president should do his part to unite the country by leading a peaceful transition and letting grievances go."