Republican strategist and Fox News analyst Karl Rove criticized former Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats for attempting to use coronavirus fears to raise campaign funds, asking “Do they have no shame?”
In an Op-Ed written by Rove and published Friday on the Fox website, the former George W. Bush aide ripped into Biden for venturing to capitalize on public uncertainty, as the federal government attempts sweeping measures in order to stop the spread of the pandemic.
Rove wrote that he received a Biden campaign email Thursday evening.
“This is a long email,” Rove said the message read, “but I hope you will read it all the way through and forward this to family and friends.”
The email then quoted Biden’s Thursday speech in response to the coronavirus.
During the speech, Biden accused President Donald Trump of “xenophobia” for his ban on travel to the U.S. from most European countries and criticized Trump for referring to the coronavirus as a “foreign virus,” Fox News reported.
“This isn’t the time to be complacent,” the email read. “If you are ready to fight for the soul of this nation, you can start by donating to elect Joe Biden by clicking the button below.”
Rove excoriated Biden for his fundraising email, which was sent out hours before President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday.
To unleash the full power of the Federal Government in this effort, today I am officially declaring a National Emergency.
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“Think about this. The country faces an enormous challenge — the possibility of a pandemic that could result in the death of thousands, force the quarantine of hundreds of thousands, cause millions to work from home or lose their paychecks, perhaps crater permanently a large number of small enterprises and force the country into a recession,” Rove wrote.
“So what is Biden’s response? Raise money off the crisis as it heats up. And cleverly, get your fundraising pitch more widely distributed at no cost by asking recipients to share the speech with family and friends, hoping they’ll ‘read all the way through’ and see the appeal for campaign cash,” he added.
Rove noted that Biden was not the only Democrat attempting to appeal to fears about the virus to raise money.
“Half an hour after Biden’s email hit in-boxes, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee blasted out a fundraising email appeal with the screaming headline ‘BREAKING: Senate GOP Block Emergency Paid Sick Leave Bill From Moving Forward. 10,000 responses urgently needed,’” Rove wrote.
Describing the DSCC email as “misleading,” Rove reminded his readers that Democrats attempted to attach additional provisions to a bill aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus.
Multiple White House officials claimed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to include federal funding for abortions in the bill.
The DSCC email described by Rove further read, “now, Senate Republicans are refusing to pass this important bill.”
Rove conceded that candidates have the right to criticize one another, but he hammered Democrats for instinctively using fear to drive donations.
“But should the Democrats’ first instinct in a major crisis like America faces today be to take advantage of the moment for campaign cash?” he asked.
“Have we come to a point where every emergency our country endures is fair game for partisan fundraising appeals in the heat of the event itself, based on the challenge?” Rove wrote.
“The Biden presidential campaign and the DSCC crossed a line by cynically exploiting a national crisis for money and donors.”
The Fox contributor added he believes Democrats would be “howling” if the Trump campaign had attempted to raise money off of growing fears of a pandemic.
“Do Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer really have no qualms about raising money off coronavirus in the midst of the emergency and in the case of the DSCC, by stoking fears with misleading and outright false statements?” Rove asked.
“Do they have no shame, no decency?
Rove shared his Op-Ed on his Twitter page, writing, “Never let a crisis go to waste when it comes to…campaign fundraising.”
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Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also shared her disgust with the Democrats’ campaign emails.
“Yesterday, the @GOP & @TeamTrump sent emails and text messages to our millions of supporters encouraging them to visit the @CDCgov website. What about Joe Biden? He is fundraising off coronavirus. Unbelievable,” she tweeted.
Yesterday, the @GOP & @TeamTrump sent emails and text messages to our millions of supporters encouraging them to visit the @CDCgov website.
What about Joe Biden? He is fundraising off coronavirus.
Unbelievable.foxnews.com/media/rove-bla…
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USA Today reported late Friday that the Trump administration reached a deal with congressional Democrats on the emergency bill, which will help to ease the economic burden of the coronavirus on Americans.
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