Fox News contributor Karl Rove said former President Donald Trump has done himself no favors by demeaning Vice President Kamala Harris.

Rove’s observation echoed that of CNN commentator Maggie Haberman back in June when Biden was the nominee. Haberman said there was concern in the Trump campaign that the ex-president’s relentless attacks on Biden’s cognitive abilities would lower expectations too much. Subsequently, Biden turned in a disastrous performance.

Republican strategist Karl Rove said Tuesday that former President Trump made a mistake by “lowering the bar” for Vice President Harris in the lead-up to the presidential debate.

“I think it was a mistake for Trump to basically diminish her, calling her stupid and lowering the bar for her because expectations matter a lot in these kinds of things,” Rove told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.

The high-stakes debate is taking place in Philadelphia. It’s the only debate scheduled between Trump and Harris, who only entered the presidential contest in July after President Biden dropped out of the race. Biden did so after coming under enormous pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate against Trump.

Trump has shifted gears since Harris joined the race, nicknaming her “Comrade Kamala,” among other criticisms.

Rove said he believes the candidate who comes out on the debate stage looking more presidential will “have an advantage in the aftermath of this.”

Polls have shown a close race, and Rove said he expects it will be tight as Election Day draws nearer.

He predicts that the debate will do little to shift polls and that the majority of voters have made up their minds, but added a “little movement matters a lot when you have a race as tight as this one.”

Rove acknowledged that the race is centered on just a handful of states that will decide the outcome of this year’s election, compared to past election cycles that focused on several more.

“We’re going to be [on] an endless tour from Nevada to Arizona to Georgia to North Carolina to Pennsylvania … Wisconsin and Michigan,” Rove said.

Rove Says Trump Needs to Focus on Policy, Not Personal Attacks

Rove also offered advice for Trump’s debate strategy, urging him to focus on the economy, inflation, and immigration, rather than on Harris’s changing positions. He also suggested Trump bring up Harris’s tie-breaking vote on the American Rescue Plan, which Rove believes played a role in kicking off inflation.

Rove says Trump needs to be careful going after Harris on her changing positions and focus on the biggest mistakes the Biden-Harris administration has made with the economy, inflation and immigration. Rove also wants to hear Trump bring up Harris casting the deciding vote on the American Rescue Plan, which played a big role in kicking off inflation. When asked about Liz & Dick Cheney coming out in support of Harris, Rove said with Liz being a member of the January 6th Committee and her strong feelings on Donald Trump’s actions that day, it was to be expected. Rove believes it was a mistake for Trump to respond because it drew more attention to it.

Rove: Trump Has a Harder Job Than Harris

Rove also argued that Trump has a “harder job” than Harris in the debate, saying that Harris has “miraculously grabbed the label of the candidate of change.” He said that Harris has been able to “dissolve the bonds that tied her to the to her superior, the president, and is now seen as the new, different face, maybe because she’s younger and she’s not as well known and hasn’t worn out her welcome with the American people yet.”

“I think the debate depends on two things. One is Trump’s ability to highlight her views, because on the big issues: economy, inflation, border security, America’s role in the world, status in the world, he’s got the advantage. But she has got an opportunity to to basically say ‘I’m the new and different candidate. If you want more of the same that we’ve had for the last eight years, Trump followed by Biden, go with him. But if you want something new and different, I’m new and different.'”

Trump's Second Act: Bringing Change

Rove argued that Trump needs to make a “disciplined, focused explanation” of why Harris is responsible for the current state of the economy and inflation. He said that Trump should highlight her role in the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, both of which Rove believes contributed to inflation.

“In order to go after an incumbent and turn them into, you know, status quo, he has to make a disciplined, focused explanation of why she is responsible. And I’m amazed, for example, now on the question of inflation, I hope in the debate if he wants to win the advantage on that issue that he goes after and explains why she’s responsible for inflation: Here’s the woman who cast the tie breaking vote on on the American Rescue Plan, but which even Larry Summers and Jason Furman, Obama’s economic advisers and secretary of the treasury said, ‘You do that bill, and it’s going to spark inflation because it’s too much money needlessly pumped into our economy,'” said Rove. “Same with the Inflation Reduction Act. She is the tie breaking vote, 50-50 tie in the Senate, as vice president, she breaks it 51-50 in favor of a big spending bill. So he’s got to make a specific attack on the issues and say, ‘She is responsible for it and I have a specific plan that’s my second act that’s going to make things better.”