Veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove torched Democrats over the weekend, marveling at what he framed as a political self-own of epic proportions: somehow managing to be even less popular than President Donald Trump deep into a bruising second term.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Journal Editorial Report,” Rove reacted to growing frustration among Americans — especially travelers stuck in agonizingly long TSA lines — and pointed the finger squarely at Democrats.
Host David Asman set the stage by highlighting the airport chaos, arguing that delays have been fueled by Democrats dragging their feet on funding decisions. He also noted a recent Senate vote and a controversial move by Trump to deploy ICE agents to speed up security lines — a step that reportedly improved wait times and even boosted support for the immigration agency.
But it was a candid admission from Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) that stole the spotlight — and handed Republicans fresh ammunition.
Beyer didn’t sugarcoat it.
“We’re making people hurt. The long lines, that can’t make us more popular.”
Rove’s response? Total agreement — and then some.
“Oh, absolutely,” he said, before diving into the numbers. “In fact, what gets me is, look, if you look at the approval and disapproval ratings in the RealClearPolitics average, the president is underwater by about 14 points, 42% favorable, 56% unfavorable. The Republican Party is 15 points underwater. The Democrats, they’re 20 points.”
That’s the kicker, according to Rove.
“The Democrats have succeeded in making themselves less popular than the president of the United States in his second term, midterm election! That’s really difficult to do, but they’ve succeeded at it by stupid statements and stupid actions!”
Ouch.
Rove blasted what he described as inexplicable Democratic resistance to funding key security agencies — a stance he argued is directly contributing to the airport headaches frustrating millions of Americans.
“Why they have been so intent upon keeping the TSA from being funded and Homeland Security from being funded is beyond me,” he said. “The Republicans are going to take this problem off their plate, but it is a problem for the Democrats, and a sign of their stupidity,” Rove continued, “and one of the reasons that they are even less popular than the Republican Party or the president going into a midterm election.”
