Donald Trump has raced to lavish praise on two left-wing leaders as the GOP gears up to cast Democrats as a band of dangerous communists ahead of the midterms.
The president, 80, spent Monday afternoon at Gracie Mansion fawning over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a leader of “great potential,” and plans to host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner at the White House on Wednesday. Mamdani, 34, is a self-professed democratic socialist. Xi, 73, is the world’s most powerful communist despot.
Those moves cut deep against GOP messaging ahead of November’s race for control of the House and Senate. The party has sought to portray Democrats, whom Trump’s plummeting approval ratings have handed a 7-point lead on the generic congressional ballot, as overrun by an extreme left-wing ideology. The president has tried to salvage Republican chances by asking voters to imagine they’d be backing him personally, rather than the party.
“It’s total bulls--t. I’m p---ed off,” far-right influencer Laura Loomer, an otherwise stalwart Trump loyalist, told Politico’s Playbook newsletter of Trump’s Monday meeting with Mamdani at the mayor’s office. “He’s telling voters to pretend that he’s on the ballot while, at the same time, saying that this communist jihadist has potential. How does that motivate people to go out and vote in the midterms when Mamdani and everyone he has endorsed is anti-Trump and anti-American?”
Others have raised the alarm over Trump’s plans to pull out all the stops for Xi’s visit, which starts on Wednesday, given that voters have consistently ranked cost-of-living concerns as a chief anxiety ahead of the midterms. “I don’t think people really want to see you toasting the Chinese premier,” one Republican with close ties to the White House told the outlet. “You’re hosting this glamorous state dinner at a time when people are like, ‘Are you focused on me?’”
First lady Melania Trump, 56, who has been conspicuously absent from view amid growing scrutiny of her husband’s close relationship with 34-year-old aide Natalie Harp, popped up on Monday to express her excitement ahead of Xi’s visit this week—repeatedly referring to the dictator as “His Excellency” in a press release.
Plans for Xi’s visit include being met by Trump on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews ahead of a State Arrival Ceremony on the White House South Lawn, State Floor, and in the Rose Garden. Almost 500 military personnel from every branch of the U.S. military will take part, and a state banquet will be held the following evening.
Barrett Marson, a GOP strategist based in Arizona, told Politico that it’s only the latest example of how Trump’s messaging has been at odds with Republican efforts to raise alarm over what Democratic control of the House and Senate might entail.
“The in-your-face arguments from Republicans this election cycle is that Democrats want to bring socialism or communism to America,” he said. “Trump warmly embracing two of the most outspoken leaders of those ideologies makes it that much harder for the message to resonate with voters.”
Trump cut the ribbon on his new South Lawn helipad on Monday, part of a slew of renovations rushed to completion before Xi’s visit, only for the chopper’s motor to briefly drown out his comments.
“Most Republicans probably wish he was [inaudible] most of the time these days,” Marson joked.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
