Rove: De Niro event outside Trump trial ‘big mistake’ for Biden campaign

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove said President Biden’s campaign made a “big mistake” Tuesday in politicizing former President Trump’s hush money trial by having actor Robert De Niro and two Jan. 6 police officers show up near the courthouse for a press conference. 

“Stupid mistake by the Biden campaign,” Rove said during his Tuesday appearance on Fox News, where he is a contributor. “They wanted to get, while all the cameras were there, they wanted to get their moment in the sun. And it was a big mistake.”

De Niro, along with former police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, talked about the potential dangers of a second Trump term during their appearance near the Manhattan courthouse. 

“I don’t mean to scare you. No no, wait, maybe I do mean to scare you. If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss away these freedoms that we take for granted, and elections, forget about it … he will never leave,” De Niro said as he was heckled by Trump supporters.

Rove, who was a top adviser to former President George W. Bush, questioned whether the event would attract new voters at a time when some Democrats are increasingly worried about Biden’s reelection efforts.

“It politicized the trial — better to have waited,” Rove said, arguing that the type of voters up for grabs in November’s election would not be won over by De Niro’s dire warnings.

“Are those the kind of credible statements that are going to cause people who don’t like Biden and don’t like Trump, but are trying to figure out who to vote for,” Rove said.

“The people who believe that are already in the Biden camp,” he continued. “That’s not who they should be trying to reach out to. He came close in a moment of talking about January 6 and talking about the two officers, but that might have had an impact. But this was so over the top as to simply be useless.”

De Niro, who has been a staunch anti-Trump voice in Hollywood, filmed a campaign ad for Biden last week in which he went after the former president for being an “unhinged, power-hungry candidate.”

Rove said the actor’s appearance outside Trump’s trial would only exacerbate Democratic concerns about Biden as their nominee.

Trump currently leads Biden by 1 point nationally, according to a Decision Desk HQ/The Hill polling average. However, Trump is consistently leading Biden in most of the swing states that will be pivotal in the electoral college outcome.