BIDEN URGES DEMOCRATS TO DEFEAT ‘SEMI-FASCISM’ IN MIDTERM ELECTIONS

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden told Democrats at a rally on Thursday that they need to save the country from the “semi-fascism” of Donald Trump’s Republicans and keep control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

Speaking to hundreds of party faithful in Maryland, just outside Washington, Biden sought to build on growing energy in the party, which believes it can fend off a threatened Republican victory in the Nov. 8 vote.

Casting the Republicans under ex-president Trump’s sway as a party of “anger, violence, hate and division,” Biden said, “We’ve chosen a different path forward: the future of unity, hope and optimism.”

“This fall there will be a choice between these two visions. We must take our case to the American people and be crystal clear about it,” he said.

Earlier, in remarks ahead of the speech, Biden likened Trump’s Make America Great Again or Maga brand as “extreme.”

“It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the—I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism,” Biden said.

“You need to vote to literally save democracy again,” he then said in his speech.

Just weeks ago, Democrats were in the doldrums.

With Biden’s approval ratings below 40 percent and the party seemingly unable to close the deal on a series of election promises, there were widespread expectations that the Republicans would easily take control of at least one chamber of Congress.

A dramatic August, however, has sown the seeds of what some Democrats hope will be a political miracle, with their party holding the Senate and, at minimum, mitigating the size of the Republican win in the House of Representatives.