Rope plugs will leak eventually. They are temporary at best.
Slime will corrode the rim and destroy it. Never use it. I know this from vast personal experience because I tried the above in different configurations and various manufacturers.
Replace the tire no if and's or but's.
I dunno Mike, a fresh rubber coated rope plug, properly installed WITH GLUE (when you rasp the hole, coat the rasp with cement and leave it in place while goobering the plug with goo also)
will NEVER leak, and you will
never be able to pull it out from the inside after the tire wears out and is off the rim....
It's all about the glue dude, and making it work.
I have ridden on at least 20 tires, plugged correctly in the last 35 years, and never once had a leakage or failure of the plug.
I also have a tire I drilled holes into, and repeatedly plugged, to teach folks how to do it
correctly, during the Canaan National Rally. I just checked it. It still has 40 psi in it, I had it at 42 psi at the rally,
there are 23 plugs in that bald tire.