President Joe Biden is rolling out yet another new attack on former President Donald Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) philosophy.
Speaking to Democratic donors on Thursday night, Biden said, “What we’re seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of extreme MAGA philosophy.”
“It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism,” he continued.
The president went on to claim he respects “conservative Republicans” but “I don’t respect these MAGA Republicans.”
Biden suggested, “There are not many real Republicans anymore.”
Later in the event on Thursday, Biden claimed, “The MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and economic security. They’re a threat to our very democracy. They refuse to accept the will of the people. They embrace political violence. They don’t believe in democracy.”
This “semi-fascism” line was probably poll-tested by Democratic consultants who are trying to find new lines to attack Republicans with ahead of the midterms.
But this method of throwing wet, soggy spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks is kind of funny.
First, we were treated to Biden’s laughable and disturbing assertion that the “MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history, in recent American history.”
BIDEN: “This MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that's existed in American history, in recent American history." pic.twitter.com/PZqEWcil6X
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) May 4, 2022
There was his “ultra MAGA” line too.
BIDEN: "Senator Rick Scott of Florida…released what he calls 'the ultra MAGA agenda.' It's a MAGA agenda all right. Let me tell you about this 'ultra MAGA agenda.' It's extreme, as most MAGA things are." pic.twitter.com/iSdqZAhHh5
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 4, 2022
But it’s kind of weird. If Republicans are really that much of a threat, Biden and the Democrats should be able to just say that without trotting out these weird lines of attack.
These new nicknames kind of give the impression that Democrats are afraid Americans are not buying the claims about the MAGA movement. Sure Trump used nicknames, so this isn’t new. But Biden essentially campaigned on being the straight-talking antithesis of the former president.
It’s starting to feel like people are trying to feel like a sentence where someone crams as many modifiers and fancy words into it to hammer home their point.
However, just as with writing, when you throw in as many flashy descriptors as you can, people start to lose interest in what you’re saying, and they might begin to think that you’re exaggerating.
When Trump would throw out a nickname, take “Shifty Schiff,” for example, his supporters in the media would eat it up and adopt it — and that one is still in use today.
When Biden uses a nickname, some on MSNBC might borrow it for a few weeks but then it kind of just disappears. It just doesn’t have the same sticking power. Instead, conservatives tend to start using the phrase to try to “own” him. He should stop trying to use shorthand and nicknames if he thinks Republicans really pose that much of a threat.
