OPINION:
It’s a favorite tactic of Democrats: Accuse your political enemy of exactly what you’re doing. They did it to former President Donald Trump, attacking him for colluding with Russia when it was, in fact, the Clintons. New revelations show Clinton campaign operatives worked with a technology firm to spy on Mr. Trump before and during his presidency. Then, Democrats impeached him for a phone call with the Ukrainian president while ignoring Hunter Biden’s relationship with a Ukrainian energy company. But in the year since President Biden took office, Democrats’ projection has become more blatant than ever.
Consider the rhetoric coming from the White House. While Democrats tried to paint Mr. Trump’s language as “dark and divisive,” Mr. Biden warned just days before Christmas that Americans who didn’t comply with his political agenda would experience “a winter of severe illness and death.” As punishment, Mr. Biden tried to force private businesses to fire employees who wouldn’t comply with his federal vaccine mandate — an agenda the Supreme Court thankfully blocked following lawsuits from the RNC and other allied groups. But the fact that an American president would even attempt to force fellow citizens to choose between their livelihoods and their personal liberty is wrong,
It’s not the first time Mr. Biden has smeared those who dare to oppose his agenda. Last year, he claimed voter ID laws were tantamount to “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” Even more recently, Mr. Biden went to Atlanta where he compared anyone who opposed his federal election takeover to racists and white supremacists. He even equated his opponents to Democrat segregationist Gov. George Wallace — never mind that Mr. Biden once bragged about being praised by him. But Democrats seem to have no problem requiring ID and proof of vaccination for basic activities like dining out and going to the gym, even though such mandates disproportionately affect the Black community.
And while Mr. Biden supposedly urged Americans to “stop treating our opponents as our enemies,” it was Mr. Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland who announced he would potentially prosecute parents speaking out at school board meetings. Whistleblower emails later revealed the FBI created a “threat tag” to track concerned parents, even though the agency previously denied using such tools that are normally used to target terrorists. It’s difficult to imagine anything more divisive than treating concerned parents like national threats.
Then, after months of openly supporting efforts to defund the police, Democrats’ outrageously and falsely claimed it was actually Republicans who cut funding to police departments. It’s obvious what’s going on: Democrats are running damage control on a failed policy they campaigned on. With midterms on the horizon, Mr. Biden’s polling numbers tumbling by the day, and only 18% of Americans saying they support defunding the police, Democrats are trying to walk back an agenda that has exploded in their face. But the damage has been done. Violent crime is surging in Democrat cities all over the country. Last year, 14 major Democrat-run cities set all-time high homicide records. Philadelphia broke its 1990 record with over 550 killings, Chicago had its deadliest year in a quarter-century, and Atlanta reached its highest number of homicides in over three decades. Carjackings, smash-and-grab robberies and ambush-style attacks on police are all on the rise too, making our neighborhoods less safe. It’s no wonder Democrats are trying to hide from their disastrous soft-on-crime policies and anti-police rhetoric.
Perhaps most ironic of all has been Mr. Biden’s foreign policy fiascos. For all Democrats’ complaints about Mr. Trump on the world stage, he kept our country safe and paved the way for historic peace in the Middle East through the Abraham Accords. After just one year, on the other hand, Mr. Biden’s record is catastrophic: He has refused to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, showed weakness to communist China and presided over an Afghanistan disaster that left Americans dead and trapped behind enemy lines. Mr. Biden has destroyed our credibility and embarrassed us across the globe.
Whether it’s a political strategy or a guilty conscience, Democrats consistently project their scandals onto Republicans. But as Americans wise up to Democrats’ misdirection, the left won’t be able to run from its record. Voters are recognizing Democrats for who they are: failed leaders whose hypocrisy knows no end. They don’t care.
On Nov. 8, Americans will hold them accountable.
• Ronna McDaniel is the chair at the Republican National Committee.
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