Karl Rove, longtime Republican strategist and Fox News contributor, reportedly issued a sharp warning Tuesday to Democrats flirting with the far left: the party’s growing embrace of candidates like Omar Fateh, the Democratic nominee in the Minneapolis mayoral race, may cost them mainstream voters and further alienate centrists ahead of critical elections.
Speaking during a Fox News segment, Rove outlined Fateh’s platform in stark terms, casting it as a reflection of how extreme and out-of-touch elements within the Democratic Party have become.
“I got to tell you, though, this is a problem for the Democrats,” Rove said. “Think about this.”
Fateh’s campaign agenda, according to Rove, includes a raft of progressive priorities that could spell political disaster in swing districts.
“He wants to combat police violence. He’s in favor of race-based housing programs. He wants to end evictions — you don’t pay your rent, you can stay where you are,” Rove said. “He wants new taxes… a land value tax in addition to a property tax. He wants a municipal income tax. He wants the city to be able to purchase distressed properties, but forbid private companies or developers from purchasing them.”
That, Rove argued, is just the beginning. “He wants to have public financing for a trans equity summit each year,” he said.
“And here’s my personal favorite: he wants to have behavioral crisis response teams instead of armed law enforcement response.”
With characteristic sarcasm, Rove mocked the policy proposal. “Look, we’re sending a behavioral crisis response team, they’ll bring their own couch, they’ll bring warm tea and treats… and some guy who’s got a gun,” he said. “I mean, this is just ridiculous.”
Rove noted that Fateh’s candidacy emerged not from a conservative backlash, but from dissatisfaction with an already liberal mayor — who had dared to veto rent control, oppose a mandated minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, and dismantle a homeless encampment.
“This is how left-wing they are,” Rove said, underscoring the widening ideological gulf even within progressive circles.
The broader concern, according to Rove, is how this hard-left politics will play outside the city’s limits.
“How do you think the Democrats — Congresswoman Craig, Congresswoman Morris, even a very liberal member who represents St. Paul — how do you think they are gonna be explaining these things to their suburban electorate that is not as liberal as the city of Minneapolis is?” he asked. “It’s gonna be awfully hard.”
In Rove’s view, candidates like Fateh represent not just a fringe of the Democratic Party but an emerging identity crisis that threatens to alienate moderates and independents — precisely the voters Democrats need to win back to regain momentum in the heartland.
“The more that we get people like this representing the face of the Democratic Party,” he concluded, “the harder it is to win back voters in the middle of American politics.”
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