Karl Rove guest op-ed in the Wall Street Journal: “In suggesting that Senate Republicans oust Mr. McConnell, Mr. Trump is setting himself up for defeat. Mr. McConnell won’t be removed and replaced with a Trump toady. The former president’s screed will leave him appearing weaker while the Kentucky senator shows that Friedrich Nietzsche (and Kelly Clarkson) was right: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Mr. Trump may not be fully aware of shifting currents among congressional Republicans. More members now admit privately that Mr. Trump had no coattails in last fall’s election. Especially in the suburbs, some Republicans and many GOP-leaning independents refused to take his lawn signs or support him. That’s why so many Republican congressional candidates ran ahead of the former president.”
“Mr. Trump crowed Tuesday that he ‘received the most votes of any sitting President in history.’ Then again, Joe Biden received more votes than any candidate in history – and seven million more votes than Mr. Trump. Despite possessing all the powers of incumbency and leading a united GOP, Mr. Trump lost the presidency. If he returned for another White House contest, leading a divided party at war with itself and out of power, he’d be wiped out. Mr. Trump should now be focused not on settling scores, but on healing, uniting and expanding the GOP. Politics is about addition, not subtraction. So next time his crackerjack wordsmiths suggest a thermonuclear attack on other Republicans, Mr. Trump ought to let the one-day story that provoked them go away on its own. But then he wouldn’t be Donald Trump, would he?”