Democrats are still predicted to use what narrow control they have of the U.S. House of Representatives, and potentially the U.S. Senate. It's no surprise, then, that Democrats would turn to desperate measures in order to delude themselves, and voters, that they have a chance to hold onto control of the House.
In May, President Joe Biden started using the term "ultra MAGA" as a way to smear Republicans. Then White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki laughably claimed that the president came up with it all on his own, but it turns out, as Matt covered not long after, that it was the result of six months worth of research.
Democrats in Congress as well as their allies in the mainstream media have taken to using the phrase embarrassingly enough, cringe-worthy though it may be. This includes Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who serves as the chairman of the Democratic Caucus.
Extreme MAGA Republicans are totally out of control. pic.twitter.com/gRybv18uIP
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) July 28, 2022
During the House Democratic Leadership press conference earlier this week, Jeffries used the line, proudly tweeting it out on Thursday, after having tweeted out a similar line on Wednesday.
"The threat right now in this country to the American people are extreme MAGA Republicans. That's the threat," he emphasized. And he only got more hysterical from there. "That's the problem. That's the crisis that we confront. Extreme MAGA Republicans. Why? They are extreme on reproductive freedom. They wanna criminalize abortion care. Extreme on social security. They actually want to end it in five years. Social security! They wanna end it, in five years. Extreme on democracy, apparently they do not believe in it. They wanna lead us on a path toward authoritarianism. Extreme on guns. Extreme on Medicare. They also wanna end it, in five years. Extreme on voting rights. They don't believe in it." Jeffries went on to repeat that "that's the threat that the American people confront," after listing off a litany of examples.
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He then went on to make his claim that his party had a chance in November. "That's why we are gonna continue to put people over politics and make it very clear what extreme MAGA Republicans are all about."
House Dems will continue to put people over politics.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) July 27, 2022
And stop Extreme Republicans from trying to destroy our country.
When it comes to the example Jeffries began with, abortion, or, as he put it "reproductive freedom" and "abortion care," the congressman has propagated such abortion extremism before, as he did during a hearing earlier this month conducted by the House Judiciary Committee. During his remarks, he asked the Republican witness, Catherine Glenn Foster about extremism, who aptly responded that "anyone who would support abortion up to the baby's birthday is extreme."
Jeffries then went on a pro-abortion rant. "It's mainstream if you support the fact that this decision, reproductive decisions, should be between a woman and her doctor. We don't need Ted Cruz, or anyone else, involved in making that decision," he said, randomly throwing the pro-life Republican senator from Texas under the bus. "That's extreme, what you wanna bring about," he claimed.
While the Democratic Party supports abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy without legal limit, as does the legislation they're pushing known as the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), Democratic members and their witnesses appear to be in denial, instead claiming Republicans and their witnesses are the "extreme" ones on the issue.
Polls show the American people are not on Jeffries' side, though. A recent poll from Harvard CAPS/Harris, found that just 10 percent of respondents hold the Democratic Party's view of supporting abortion through all nine months.
Claims that Republicans are looking to "end" social security and Medicare was already fact-checked, back in April, and Democrats are considered to have "misleadingly" made such claims.
Jeffries offered no examples when he claimed Republicans are against democracy and want to send us on a path towards authoritarianism. He also provided no such evidence on his claim about guns, seeming to forget that a gun control package passed Congress last month with Republican support.
When it comes to voting rights, Republican states have passed several laws to protect election integrity, with an aim in mind to make it easier to vote, harder to cheat. That's hardly the same as claiming Republicans "don't believe in" voting rights, especially since some state laws added extra days of early voting, giving it more than Democratic states. Further, Georgia voter turnout for May's primaries exploded to a record-high number.
Jeffries is likely salty that Republicans opposed so-called voting rights legislation that failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year. Such legislation would have led to the unconstitutional federal overhaul of elections.
It's worth highlighting that none of those examples included economic hardships the American people face, including inflation, pain at the pump from high gas prices, or the recession that a majority of the American people believe we're in, all while the Biden administration denies we're in one.
Polls consistently show that Americans consider the economic issues as their top issues, which they give President Biden particularly low marks on.
A press release and Friday morning inbox message from the DNC makes it clear that the Democrats very much plan to go with this tiring, hyperbolic narrative. For Friday kicked off the "Too Extreme Tours," in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, after already doing so on Thursday in North Carolina and Arizona.
Friday morning INBOX message from the DNC shows they really think this embarrassing, cringe-worthy strategy is a winning message for them… pic.twitter.com/HdmC4lMQm5
— Rebecca Downs (@RebeccaRoseGold) July 29, 2022
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison also promoted such events over Twitter.
As we approach 100 days until the midterms, Democrats are calling out Republicans’ ultra-MAGA agenda to ban abortion and cut Americans’ Medicare and Social Security benefits. Here's your #WeeklyStatesRoundup ??:
— Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair (@harrisonjaime) July 29, 2022
Neither the inbox message advertising such events, nor the longer press release posted to the DNC website appears to address the top of mind issue of inflation.
