Rove backs up DeLay, calls critics 'desperate'

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The White House yesterday stepped up its defense of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, dispatching political strategist Karl Rove to deride Democratic attacks as "drivel."

"They're just desperate," Mr. Rove said of Democrats on CNN. "They're not offering ideas in the debate, they're not being constructive, and so some of their members are taking potshots at Tom DeLay."

The broadside came in response to Republican complaints that President Bush has been too tepid in his defense of Mr. DeLay, the Texas Republican who is being accused by Democrats and the press of ethical lapses.

"I'm looking forward to working with Tom," Mr. Bush told newspaper editors on Thursday. "He's been a very effective leader. We've gotten a lot done in the legislature, and I'm convinced we'll get more done in the legislature."

Those remarks were critiqued on Sunday by Sen. Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican.

"I read very carefully what [Mr. Bush] had to say," Mr. Lott said on ABC. "I wish it had been more, frankly."

Mr. Lott resigned his position as Senate majority leader in 2002 amid criticism over his praise of Sen. Strom Thurmond, a former segregationist, at the South Carolina Republican's 100th birthday party. The president helped fuel that uproar by publicly chiding Mr. Lott.

"I do think the White House needs to remember that people [who] fight hard for you as a candidate and for your issues as a president deserve your support," Mr. Lott said Sunday.

The president did not have any comment yesterday in support of his fellow Texan, but Mr. Rove went on television to defend Mr. DeLay.

"We strongly support Tom DeLay," he told CNN from the White House North Lawn. "He's a good man; he's a close ally of this administration.