President Donald Trump is ramping up his midterm messaging, seizing on a wave of progressive primary victories to paint the Democratic Party as a haven for “communists” and “socialists,” a strategy designed to rally the Republican base and shift the focus from economic headwinds. With about four months until Election Day, Trump and the GOP are framing the contest as a stark choice between American values and what they describe as an existential threat from the far left.
“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. He went further, calling the leftward shift “the biggest threat to our nation there is, maybe since our founding,” comparing it to World War I, World War II, the September 11 attacks, and Pearl Harbor. The comments, first reported by The Hill, mark an escalation from his usual attacks on Democratic policies.
The president’s offensive comes after a series of high-profile wins by candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and other progressive groups. In New York, Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory late last year set the stage, followed by Katie Wilson’s win in Seattle’s mayoral race and Janeese Lewis George’s capture of the D.C. mayor’s office with DSA backing earlier this month. Republicans have zeroed in on these races as evidence of a broader ideological takeover.
GOP operatives are particularly targeting Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who deleted an online post where he said he “got older and became a communist,” and New York congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who ousted incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat and faced scrutiny over deleted social media posts praising communists. Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said in a statement: “The inmates are running the asylum in the Democrat Party, and Mamdani, Chevalier, and Platner are the new faces of the radical socialist takeover. The midterms are shaping up to be a decision between extremism and common sense.”
The messaging push comes as Democrats try to capitalize on rising inflation, with Commerce Department data showing prices hitting their highest level in over three years. One Democratic strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Hill that Republicans “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.” Yet GOP consultants argue the tactic levels the playing field, forcing Democrats to answer for every extreme statement from their left flank—a dynamic Republicans have long faced.
“For the last decade or so, every Republican has had to answer for everything that has been said by every single member of the Republican conference,” said GOP consultant Matt Beynon. “Now the shoe is on the other foot, and Democrats are going to have to be accountable for every insane, antisemitic—frankly at times, racist—things that come out of some of the folks’ mouths.”
Trump reinforced the theme at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual policy conference on Friday, warning that the far left’s promises are unsustainable. “The Democrat party is in big trouble because this isn’t stopping with New York,” he said. “It’s too easy to get elected, giving everything away. It’s easy for them to get followers because they make promises they know they can’t keep.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on Monday, telling Fox News that the midterms are a choice between “communism and common sense,” adding, “this is not your granddaddy’s Democratic Party.”
Not all progressive candidates have succeeded. Losses in Maryland and Utah, along with a DSA-backed challenger’s defeat by state Assemblymember Jordan Wright in New York, show the left flank’s momentum is not unstoppable. Upcoming primaries, including Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate bid in Michigan and Melat Kiros’s challenge to Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado, will test the narrative further. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pushed back on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” arguing that “you’re going to have different candidates being nominated in New York City and suburban Connecticut,” and noting that Trump—not progressive candidates—poses the real threat to democracy, as he has argued before.
As the midterms approach, the GOP’s anti-communist offensive is likely to intensify, with Trump framing every Democratic primary as a preview of a radical future. But whether the message can override voter concerns about pocketbook issues—like those highlighted in a recent AARP poll showing Democrats leading in Ohio—remains an open question. For now, the president is betting that fear of socialism will trump economic discontent.
