President Donald Trump's midterm message isn't the strategy Republicans would have chosen, but they're embracing it anyway.
The 80-year-old president has settled on a midterm message built around branding Democrats as communists, and Republicans are grudgingly going along as administration officials struggle to defend Trump's economic record heading into November, reported MS NOW.
"Where things are at right now, Trump's record doesn't really get the base too excited," a former Trump aide told MS NOW, granted anonymity to speak candidly. "If you look at what voters care about right now, Trump doesn't have a lot to boast of."
Instead, Republicans are leaning on a wave of democratic socialist primary wins to attack the Democratic Party with communism barbs, a tactic Trump has used before, including against Kamala Harris in 2024. "The GOP right now is smart to point to Democrats who are struggling with their identity," the former aide said.
A Republican operative familiar with midterm strategy was blunter about the appeal: "'Democrats are communists' isn't exactly our rallying cry, but if it keeps Trump actually focused and talking about midterms, we'll take it."
Multiple operatives described a long-running two-lane approach, with one summarizing it as: "There's what Trump says. And then there's what we want candidates to say."
That divide will be on display next month at a first-of-its-kind midterm convention in Dallas, which a person familiar with the planning said will "100 percent" lean into Trump's communism framing. The convention will spotlight left-leaning Democratic figures, including Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed — even though El-Sayed is not a democratic socialist.
Trump himself has downplayed responsibility for the party's midterm fortunes. "They're angry at Republicans," he said last week when asked about voter anger. "But they're not angry at me." Pressed on his limited campaigning for GOP candidates this cycle, he added: "I said to somebody, 'Wait a minute. You don't understand. I won. I'm not campaigning.'"
The communism messaging escalated after democratic socialist candidates won New York primaries on June 23. At a July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore, Trump invoked communism more than a dozen times, calling it "the greatest threat to our country" — ranking it above both world wars, Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Since then, he has referenced communism more than 100 times in speeches and online posts, according to an MS NOW analysis.
Polling suggests the tactic has some grounding: a July Echelon Insights survey found 52% of voters view socialism negatively, while 53 percent of independents had an unfavorable view of democratic socialism specifically. "Black and Brown Voters don't want Communism or Socialism," Trump posted Sunday, "Not surprisingly, they are flocking to the Republican Party!"