Trump targets Democrats as ‘jihadists’, communists ahead of US midterm elections

US President Donald Trump sought to frame the coming US midterm elections as a choice between his policies and what he called the radicalism of Democratic candidates asserting that ldquojihadistsrdquo and communists were being elected across the countryAsked what recommendations he had for Republicans heading into the elections Trump said the oppositionrsquos candidates would make it easier for his party to draw a sharp political contrast ldquoWell the one thing is we have jihadists being elected all over the placerdquo Trump said during an interaction with reporters at the White HouseldquoWe have this mdash whether itrsquos communism jihadismrdquo he said Trump did not identify any candidate by name or specify which elections he was referring to He said a friend had encouraged him to use the term ldquojihadistrdquo to describe what was happening politicallyldquoA friend of mine called up and said you know really you should use the word jihadist because thatrsquos whatrsquos happeningrdquo Trump said The president argued that voters did not want candidates he characterised as extreme taking control of the governmentldquoPeople donrsquot want to have radical lunatics involved in running our country and thatrsquos what we haverdquo he saidTrump accused unnamed Democratic candidates of wanting to dismantle core American institutions including the Supreme Court the presidency and the SenateldquoWhen you look at the radicalism and the craziness of the candidates and the stupidity of what theyrsquore suggesting letrsquos get rid of the Supreme Court letrsquos get rid of the presidency letrsquos get rid of the Senaterdquo he saidTrump also accused his political opponents of seeking to defund the police and weaken the US military ldquoThey want to defund our police they want to terminate our military no military we donrsquot want any military in our countryrdquo he saidHe offered no names or supporting details for those allegations during the exchange Trump then turned to politicians who had immigrated to the United States saying some had come from unsuccessful countries and were now trying to tell Americans how to governldquoThey come from other failed countries and they come here and they tell us how to run our countryrdquo he said Trump specifically mentioned Somalia as an example but did not name any Somaliborn officeholder or candidateldquoThey come from letrsquos say as an example Somaliardquo he said ldquoThey come in and then they tell us how to mdash how our Constitution how our Declaration of Independence how it worksrdquoTrump predicted that candidates identified with such positions would begin the midterm campaign at a disadvantage He acknowledged however that his assessment could be wrong ldquoI think that they start off mdash now I may be wrong but you know they start off with a big disadvantagerdquo Trump saidThe US midterm elections determine control of the House of Representatives and the Senate midway through a presidentrsquos fouryear term They also include contests for state and local offices across the countryThe elections are commonly viewed as a referendum on the sitting president and his party Trumprsquos remarks indicated that immigration national identity policing and the military would feature prominently in his argument to votersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever