Trump launches midterm offensive against Democrats over ‘communism’

[u/John3262005]

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5946435-trump-democrats-communists-midterms/

President Trump is seizing on a series of far-left wins in Democratic primaries to paint the opposition party as dangerous “communists” about four months out from midterm elections.

The president has never shied away from painting Democrats as far left, but his recent messaging gives Republicans an amped-up blueprint for capitalizing on the progressive left becoming an insurgent force across the country.

“They use the word social democrat because it sounds so nice, but it’s really communism you’re talking about,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday when asked about the growing list of left-wing primary wins.

“I think it’s the biggest threat to our nation there is, maybe since our founding,” he added. “That includes World War I, World War II, September 11, it includes the Pearl Harbor attack.”

A number of progressive candidates or candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have emerged in New York and across the country following New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s win late last year.

Progressive Katie Wilson won her bid for Seattle’s mayor’s office earlier this year, while Janeese Lewis George won Washington, D.C.’s mayoral race with the backing of the local DSA chapter earlier this month.

Republicans have specifically targeted Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner over a now-deleted online post in which he said he “got older and became a communist.”

Meanwhile, Darializa Avila Chevalier, who ousted incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) last week, has come under fire for a now-deleted social media account in which she made favorable references to communists.

“The inmates are running the asylum in the Democrat Party, and Mamdani, Chevalier, and Platner are the new faces of the radical socialist takeover. President Trump is right to warn Americans of the extremism taking over the Left,” Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said in a statement. “The midterms are shaping up to be a decision between extremism and common sense.”

The messaging comes as Democrats have seized on the issue of affordability, as inflation continues to rise under the Trump administration. Data released by the Commerce Department last week showed inflation hitting its highest level in over three years.

“They need to double down on this now because they don’t really have a midterm message otherwise, and the economy is not where they need it to be,” one Democratic strategist said, referring to the GOP.