Trump: Karl Rove is 'a total loser’

Real estate mogul Donald Trump is joining the chorus of conservative activists upset with Karl Rove over his decision to launch a new super-PAC aimed at aiding more electable candidates.

Trump blasted Rove as "a total loser" on Twitter on Thursday.

Rove, a former Bush aide and major Republican fundraiser, launched the Conservative Victory Project earlier this week. The political action committee's stated intent is to aid Republican candidates it considers more viable in a general election, but the group has come under fire from some grassroots groups who argue that the party establishment is attempting to crowd out their efforts.

Trump, whose subscription to "birther" conspiracy theories has won him favor with some in the Tea Party, argued the last election cycle cast doubt on Rove's political instincts.

Why are people giving money to Karl Rove when he just wasted $400M without any victories? Use your head.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Feb. 7, 2013

Karl Rove is a total loser. Money given to him might as well be thrown down the drain.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Feb. 7, 2013

Karl Rove’s strategy and commercials were the worst I have ever seen.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Feb. 7, 2013

Rove served as an adviser to American Crossroads, one of the most aggressive outside donors in the 2012 election cycle. But a study published in November by the Sunlight Foundation found that Rove had a success rate of just 1 percent on $103 million in attack ads purchased — among the lowest return on investment of any outside group.

On Wednesday, Rove defended his new organization, saying critics in the Tea Party were "wrong" to back unpolished candidates.

"Some people think the best we can do is [Former Rep.] Todd Akin [R-Mo.] and Richard Mourdock — they’re wrong," Rove told Fox News. "We need to do better if we hope to take over the United States Senate. We need to get better conservative candidates and win."

Akin and Mourdock, two Senate nominees who won with heavy Tea Party support in their Republican primaries, both damaged their 2012 general election campaigns with comments they made regarding rape. They later lost those contests in Indiana and Missouri, respectively, that Republicans had believed were winnable races.

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