Republican strategist Karl Rove indicated Friday that allowing sentencing to proceed in former President Trump’s New York hush money case could have given Trump a boost in the polls.
“I also agree with the notion that was offered up by several other of … your analysts. And that is, that if he had gone forward with this, it would have, ironically enough, served the interest of Donald Trump,” Rove said Friday on Fox News’s “America Reports.”
“Donald Trump has risen in the polls the more the people have reacted negatively to his treatment in the courtroom,” he continued in remarks highlighted by Mediaite, making reference to Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the case. “And if the judge had gone ahead with this, it could have easily been the October surprise.”
The sentencing date, which was originally set for Sept. 18, was delayed by a judge until Nov. 26. Friday’s ruling ensures the GOP nominee will not face any criminal punishment until after the election.
“That is to say, [Merchan] would have potentially gone after Donald Trump in his verdict and the reaction of the American people might have been wholly negative on it and helped advance the cause of Donald Trump in the election,” Rove added, but he noted he supported the judge’s ruling.
“But a wise decision. It’s good for the country that this not be forced into the final stages of a presidential campaign,” he said.
The former president was found guilty in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment made to an adult film star to buy her silence during his 2016 campaign over an alleged past affair.
Trump and his legal team have continually pressed the judge to move the sentencing back, most recently citing the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) said previously that he wouldn’t oppose a delay, but his office wrote in a letter Tuesday that the case should not be paused while the GOP nominee’s team seeks to move the case to a federal court.
The latest win for Trump comes as he and his Democratic rival, Vice President Harris, are set to go head-to-head in a debate next Tuesday hosted by ABC News.
It also marks the second presidential debate of the cycle, after the disastrous debate between President Biden and Trump led to calls for the incumbent to step aside. Biden announced he would withdraw from the race in late July and put his support behind Harris.
The Hill/Decision Desk HQ national polling index shows Harris currently leading Trump by 3.8 points — 49.5 percent to 45.7 percent. However, averages of polls in some battleground states like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia, show the candidates tied or Harris with a much narrower lead.