Biden MAGA-Bashing Speech Could Cool Democrats’ Midterm Momentum

News Analysis

When President Joe Biden accused MAGA Republicans of being “a threat to this country” in his Sept. 1 primetime address at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, Democrats’ prospects of retaining control of the U.S. House and capturing the U.S. Senate in November’s midterm elections appeared to be on the upswing.

Democratic candidates in congressional races were seeing renewed enthusiasm among supporters following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June repeal of Roe v Wade and were entering the post-Labor Day stretch run under the full-sail momentum of legislative victories by the Biden administration.

After criticizing Republicans for “MAGA extremism” and “semi-fascism” earlier this week, Biden doubled down on the rhetoric in his primetime speech, claiming the GOP had been hijacked, “dominated, driven, and intimidated” by former President Donald Trump and his supporters.

Reaction from Republicans and Trump himself after being accused of being threats to democracy was immediate—and continues the morning after—and predictable in refutal and recrimination.

But the immediate fallout left some Democrats, especially those engaged in contentious campaigns against Trump-endorsed or MAGA-supporting Republicans, trying to tamp down Biden’s harsh words.

New Hampshire Democrat incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who is likely to face Trump-endorsed retired U.S. Army Gen. Don Bolduc—the overwhelming favorite in the state’s Sept. 13 GOP primary—distanced herself from Biden’s speech in comments to WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“I have concerns that some people seem to think that violence is an appropriate way of resolving disputes in our democracy, but I think President Biden’s comments just painted with way too broad a brush,” said Hassan who is regarded among Senate incumbents most likely to be unseated in November.

Bolduc, meanwhile, in a Twitter post, shared a widely circulated photoshopped image of Biden in an Adolf Hitler-like oratory pose. “@JoeBiden yelling at the clouds while he insults half of