White House adviser says painting MAGA Republicans as ‘extremists’ helped Democrats to midterms success

White House adviser Anita Dunn said that President Joe Biden’s decision to characterise MAGA Republicans as extreme helped Democrats perform better than expected in the midterm elections.

Ms Dunn spoke to Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press and noted how many people questioned whether using the term “MAGA Republican” would be an effective strategy.

“Former President Trump kind of adopted (it) himself,” she said. “But it was a very effective strategy for kind of raising, for the American people, the hazards of going down that path with democracy denial, with the threats of political violence to achieve political ends with an extremist program that involves denying women the right to an abortion, no economic policies that continue to be trickled down as opposed to bottom up and middle out the way President Biden is fighting for.”

Mr Biden attempted to paint “MAGA Republicans,” a reference to Mr Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, as a threat to democracy. But many in the press panned a speech he delivered in September in Philadelphia where he decried the movement.

Democrats defied historical trends when they maintained their majority in the Senate after incumbent Democrats Mark Kelly of Arizona, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire all won reelection.

In addition, John Fetterman flipped Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat and Senator Raphael Warnock will go into a runoff against Republican nominee Herschel Walker in Georgia.

Furthermore, Democrats lost fewer House seats than expected, though the balance of the House is still unclear. Typically, the president’s party loses control of at least one chamber of Congress and they face heavy losses in the House of Representatives.

“The Republican Party has to come up with what they're actually for,” she said. “It's very clear what President Biden and the Democratic Party are for they are for working people.”

New members of Congress will undergo orientation this week. The better-than-expected results will also likely play a role in determing whether Mr Biden seeks a second term for president.