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FIRST ON FOX: Veteran political strategists James Carville and Ed Rollins aren’t quite seeing eye to eye on the political impact the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home could have on the midterm elections.
Speaking with Fox News Digital Tuesday, Carville, who was an adviser to former President Bill Clinton, said there wasn’t enough information about the raid to know just yet what it could mean for voters heading to the polls.
But Rollins, a Republican, predicted the event could end up being the “biggest issue in the midterms.”
“The attorney general and the FBI need to explain to the American public what they were doing and why,” Rollins, an adviser to former President Ronald Reagan, said when asked about the raid.
ERIC TRUMP GIVES CLEAREST INDICATION YET OF POSSIBLE TRUMP 2024 RUN FOLLOWING FBI RAID
Veteran political strategists James Carville, a Democrat, and Ed Rollins, a Republican.
(Associated Press)
“This is an invasion of a man’s home … and the public has a right to know why.”
He added that Trump had a right to know if he was being suspected of committing a crime and that it was his right to defend himself.
“To argue they are gathering evidence is not good enough. Trump not only is a former president, but certainly is the front-runner for a future nomination and possible re-election,” Rollins said.
“This could become the biggest issue in the midterms, and the ruthless abuse of power could overcome all else. It has already stepped on all other news that Biden and his team wanted to promote on his legislative record,” Rollins added.
He was referring to the passage of a number of Democrat-backed legislative priorities being overshadowed by news of the raid.
Supporters of former President Trump rally near Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home Aug. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. The FBI raided the home to retrieve classified White House documents.
(Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)
Carville took a different tone, appearing more hesitant to say the Mar-a-Lago raid would play a central role either way in upcoming elections.
He did, however, warn “right-wing” media personalities and commentators to “tread very carefully” in criticizing the raid, arguing that the documents and data the FBI had to justify the raid were likely “substantial.”
When asked how he thought it might affect voters’ decisions as they head to the polls in November, Carville said, “We don’t know because we have to find out more facts.”
President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at HoverTech International Oct. 26, 2020, in Allentown, Pa.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Carville then argued that if Trump’s claims that the raid was political were true, then he should make the search warrant public.
“I can’t imagine that that search warrant said anything less than something just overwhelming. And if it’s not, then Trump can make it public,” he said.
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“If it’s nothing, and it’s politically motivated then show us the search warrant.”
