But he also hit back at “extreme” Republicans he saw as “Trumpy” as he tries to make the upcoming vote not just a referendum on his own record, but a choice between himself and the chaos his predecessor cultivated. “I want to be very clear up front. Not all Republicans are ‘MAGA Republicans’. Not every Republican embraces this extreme ideology. I know because I’ve been able to work with mainstream Republicans throughout my career,” Biden said at Laborfest in Milwaukee. “But the extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress chose to go back, full of anger, violence, hatred and division,” he said. “But together we can and must choose a different path: forward.” Democrats are hoping to flip two Republican-held Senate seats in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and their success or failure will be seen as a key indicator of the party’s — and Biden’s — political strength ahead of the 2024 presidential contest. Biden’s own political future has been the subject of alarming speculation over the summer as the 79-year-old President suffered low approval ratings and a string of setbacks. Biden’s intentions remain a lingering question, though he insists he intends to run again. However, the unofficial start of the midterm election season coincided with a series of policy successes for Biden and his party, easing some of the pressure from Democrats surrounding the President’s leadership and political acumen. Biden hopes to use his recent victories to bolster Democrats and avoid what was once seen as an inevitable midterm rout. He’s also betting that reminding voters of the dysfunction surrounding former President Donald Trump will benefit Democrats in November. In Wisconsin, Biden blasted incumbent Republican state Sen. Ron Johnson, a top Trump ally, for downplaying the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, where Trump supporters tried to disrupt the election vote count. “Senator Johnson said it was generally a peaceful protest,” Biden said. “Have you seen the videos what happened that day?” Biden’s advisers have made plans for the President to travel two or three times a week in the run-up to the November election. With his presidential bid hampered by the pandemic, Biden has not campaigned aggressively since entering the Democratic primary in early 2020. At campaign-style events over the past two weeks, Biden has shown an eager willingness to march. During a fiery rally in Maryland, he blasted Republicans for standing in the way of his agenda, which he touted as transformative for middle-class Americans. Later, during an official event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Biden called for tougher new gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons, and accused Republicans of pandering to the gun lobby. And speaking at Independence Hall in Philadelphia last week, in an official White House event despite the political message, Biden issued a dire warning about “MAGA Republicans” who seek to undermine American democracy, a speech he thought about here and months. grew increasingly concerned about Trump staying in the GOP. Monday’s events marked a return to a more consistent theme for Biden: The importance of organized labor to building the middle class and strengthening worker protections. Biden’s support from key unions has helped fuel his many political campaigns, support he is constantly seeking to repay. In memos and strategy papers prepared in August, Biden’s team laid out its dual midterm message: branding Republicans as extremists and promoting his own list of accomplishments. But for much of the summer, the question remained whether Biden would be a welcome guest on the campaign trail or shunned by Democrats trying to distance themselves from a historically unpopular president. When Biden visited Cleveland in July to deliver an economic speech, Ohio’s Democratic Senate candidate, Rep. Tim Ryan, declined to attend. Instead, he chose to campaign in another part of the state. Other Democratic candidates declined to say specifically whether they wanted Biden to participate in the campaign trial in the fall. “I would welcome anyone to come to Arizona, travel the state anytime. While I’m here, if I’m not in Washington at the convention, and talk about what Arizona needs,” Sen. Mark Kelly, running for re-election in Arizona , he told CNN, without directly asking Biden to come. Democratic candidates appeared eager to appear with Biden on Monday. In Milwaukee, he appeared with Gov. Tony Evers, the Democratic incumbent running for re-election against Trump-backed Republican Tim Michels. The Democratic Senate candidate, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, did not appear with Biden, although the President endorsed him during his speech. In Pittsburgh, Biden plans to see U.S. Senate candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. He appeared last week in Wilkes-Barre with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Josh Shapiro. His stop in Pittsburgh will mark his third visit to the commonwealth in a week and his 16th stop in the Keystone State since taking office. Both Shapiro and Fetterman also face challengers backed by Trump, Doug Mastriano and Dr. Mehmet Oz. At a rally in Wilkes-Barre over the weekend, Trump tried to rally his candidate’s supporters, but spent much of his speech railing against Biden and the FBI’s investigation of his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump called Biden an “enemy of the state” in his speech, delivered near Biden’s hometown of Scranton. In Boston, meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris echoed Biden’s message in opposing what the White House describes as “extremist” Republicans. “Every day, working people fight to move our country forward. And yet, we must recognize that there are those in Congress who are fighting to take us back. In Congress, in states across our nation, extremist so-called leaders are fighting for turn back the clock,” he said during remarks at the Greater Boston Labor Council’s annual breakfast. “Let’s not let extreme so-called leaders turn back time. We know what’s at stake, we know what we stand for, we know when we’re fighting, we’re winning, we love our country and it’s all worth it.” he said.
