Former Bush administration official Karl Rove said last night’s vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is “not going to affect the polls,” comparing its impact to the presidential debate in September.
“It was a very good night for him [Vance], and it was a very bad night for Tim Walz, who offered up a couple of heavy offerings of word salad,” Rove said on Fox News. “But no, look, at the first debate where Donald Trump was widely seen by in the polls and observers to have lost, it didn’t affect the polls. The vice presidential debate is not going to affect the polls either.”
However, Rove, a political contributor for the network, did predict the faceoff may boost support for Vance as an individual.
“It may affect the standing of JD Vance, who had very high negatives and very low positives, worse than Tim Walz,” he claimed.
The Republican policy adviser then pointed to his white board prop to display the slight movement in polling averages one month after the presidential debate.
“Think about this: On nine — on the first of September, the race was 44.7 for Trump, 47.8 [for Vice President Harris] in the FiveThirtyEight average. As of today, it’s 45.9 to 48.5. I mean, this race is stuck,” Rove stated as he referenced stats.
He later added that the television ads, campaigning and other debates have done little to change the numbers in a “tight race.”
“Donald Trump has gone up 1.2 points,” Rove said. “She has gone up, you know, let’s see here, seven-tenths of 1 percent. This race is tight.”