Karl Rove cautions Democrats about Harris' slim polling lead: 'Nowhere near ahead'

Political commentator Karl Rove warned Democrats on Tuesday that the narrow lead Vice President Harris has seen in recent polls may not be enough for her to defeat former President Trump in November.

"On this day in 2020, Joe Biden was up 7.1% above Donald Trump in the Real Clear Politics average. And at this point in 2016, Hillary Clinton was up 6.3%. As you remember, the election came down to a handful of votes in a handful of states," Rove said in an interview on Fox News' "America's Newsroom."

He noted that Harris is ahead of Trump according to some national polling aggregators, but she is "nowhere near ahead by the numbers that both Biden and Clinton were in" during their respective campaigns against Trump in 2016 and 2020. 

The comments come as the Real Clear Politics polling average shows Harris with a slim 1.5 point lead over former President Trump nationally, a significant shift from the three-point lead Trump held over Biden the day before the president dropped out of the race.

HARRIS LEAVES OUT DEADLY BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL IN SOARING PRO-MILITARY DNC SPEECH

Rove responded to comments from Democratic strategist Julian Epstein as to Harris' campaign. 

"If the polling errors are anywhere close to what they were in 2016 and 2020, then Trump is in the lead right now," Epstein previously told Fox News Digital.

"People want to know where you're coming from and they want to know enough about the specifics to get their hands around it," he said. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

"[Harris] needs to be more specific," he added. 

CURRENT POLLS ACTUALLY SHOULD GIVE HARRIS BACKERS REASON TO WORRY ABOUT HER CHANCES: DEM STRATEGIST

According to a report from Politico last week, recent polls conducted by Democratic firms that show Harris in the lead contain warning signs, including that Trump leads in some characteristics that are more likely to sway voters. Harris is also essentially tied with Trump across the battleground states, the polls show, meaning the vice president is underperforming her national numbers in states set to decide the election.

Fox News' Michael Lee contributed to this report.