White House officials, fresh off the most successful streak of President Joe Biden’s term in office, are preparing to ramp up public attacks against Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.
In particular, officials will seek to hammer home to voters in August that, over the summer, Biden “and congressional Democrats beat the special interests and delivered what was best for the American people.”
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“During this recess, the White House will drive one clear message to the American people,” White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield and senior adviser to the president Anita Dunn wrote in a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner that outlines the messaging shift. “Every step of the way, Congressional Republicans sided with the special interests — pushing an extreme agenda that costs families.”
Dunn and Bedingfield specifically pointed to three recent pieces of legislation (the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and a bipartisan gun violence reform package) and steadily declining national gas prices as evidence of Biden’s victories over special interest groups.
The White House will seek to contrast Biden’s recent success with the Republicans’ “extremist agenda,” which officials claim lacks a coherent economic plan for helping low and middle-income families. Furthermore, the White House will escalate rhetoric surrounding targeted attempts by Republicans to take “away a woman’s right to choose” at both the state and federal levels.
“Republican elected officials want to — and already are in some states — strip away protections even in cases of rape, incest or where the mother will die if she is forced to carry the pregnancy to term,” Dunn wrote. “And, they aren’t stopping there: Congressional Republicans are continuing to pursue their extreme, MAGA agenda by proposing a nationwide ban on abortion — making abortion illegal in every state in the country.”
“This is the choice before the American people,” the memo reads. “President Biden and Congressional Democrats taking on special interests for you and your family. Or Congressional Republicans’ extreme, MAGA agenda that serves the wealthiest, corporations and themselves.”
Senior White House officials additionally briefed reporters on the messaging shift, during which one official remarked on Biden’s continued commitment to enacting bipartisan legislation, such as the infrastructure deal, gun reform legislation, and the veterans-focused PACT Act.
“The president has taken a lot of criticism for this. He’s been considered naive in trying to achieve that,” the official continued. “Maybe we can do a lot of talk, but there are occasions where we can come together, and we should. That’s an important signal for the country.”
Officials notably pushed off multiple questions about how the White House planned on addressing the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and the ex-president’s other legal entanglements.
“He’s certainly never shied away from calling out bad threats,” one official said about the topic. “We’re also not going to let that cloud our [messaging] on the progress on the things that President Biden has done to lower costs for families and to speak to the things that they’re concerned about.”
Biden is vacationing in South Carolina with first lady Jill Biden and members of their family, but White House officials promised that he would increase his public appearances “making the case” for Democrats ahead of November.
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Most polling indicates that Republicans will easily take back a majority in the House, but forecasters view the Senate as a toss-up. Republicans hold 21 of the 35 Senate seats on the ballot this November and lack any races in which polling indicates an unambiguous pickup.
