Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin faced mockery after he attacked the supposed Democratic strategy with accusations that critics said described the Republican playbook.
On Tuesday, Mullin appeared on Newsmax and described how he believes Democrats will take over America and turn it into a communist country.
"The only way you can take a republic country like the United States and turn it into a communist country is by causing chaos on purpose and then saying, 'Hey, look, government is a mess,'" Mullin said. "'You need us, the communist country, to rule you.' It's insane."
For online critics, the strategy that Mullin was describing sounded familiar, but not because it reminded them of what Democrats are doing.
"Sounds exactly like what this administration is doing," Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall noted in a post on X.
"Ummmm, sir...." wrote national opinion columnist Sophia Nelson.
"How stupid can one be?" asked former tennis professional turned political commentator Martina Navratilova. "Yeah, this stupid."
"Communist dictators attack the free press - fake news. They put unqualified family friends in government jobs. They meddle in elections. Cult of personality. Demand price control," listed Canadian activist Marlene Robertson. "Sounds like communism is already alive and kicking under Trump."
Immigration policy expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick pointed to a post by former Border Patrol sector chief Greg Bovino in which he touts President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations and a supporter agrees by calling for "chaos" mass deportation. Bovino responded to that supporter calling for the "chaos mass deportations" by saying, "Exactly. Or all is lost."
"Re: 'chaos,' here's Gregory Bovino, who was a top official at DHS elevated by the Trump admin until earlier this year, proudly agreeing with a statement that what the country needs is 'chaos mass deportations,'" Reichlin-Melnick wrote.
The Homeland Dems account posted, "Purposely inflicting as much chaos as possible on the country has been Trump's entire personality since he's been President."