Biden’s ‘Dark Brandon’ Branding Seems To Be ‘Crushing It,’ So Far

With the crucial 2022 midterm elections approaching, the messaging surrounding President Biden appears to be centered on highlighting accomplishments and criticizing Republicans, a shift from an earlier focus on unity and bipartisanship.Most recently, the official White House Twitter page roasted half a dozen members of Congress for attacking his student loan forgiveness program despite having themselves applied for and received Payment Protection Program loans and forgiveness.The move may be working in Mr. Biden’s favor, as the tweet racked up millions of likes and hundreds of thousands of retweets. Republicans have since launched their own ad campaign in an attempt to capitalize on the moment. The American Action Network bought ad time to attack the student loan forgiveness plan. The ads, featuring a mechanic, a waitress, and a landscaper complaining about paying for the degrees of theater and business majors, will run during Major League Baseball and — of all things — college football games.Another attack by the president occurred Thursday evening, when Mr. Biden took the stage at a Maryland rally and asked voters “to literally save democracy once again” and to reject the “semi-facism” of the “MAGA Republicans.”When asked what he meant by “semi-facism,” the president Friday afternoon replied: “You know what I mean.”At the rally, Mr. Biden also made sure to emphasize the role that abortion will play in the midterms, saying, “There’s a race to pass the most restrictive abortion limitations imaginable.” He added: “If the MAGA Republicans win control of the Congress it won’t matter where you live, women won’t have the right to choose anywhere.” The real kickoff to Mr. Biden’s aggressive new rhetoric came in the wake of one of the largest legislative accomplishments of his presidency, the passage of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.At the bill signing, the president called out congressional Republicans for opposing some of its headline provisions, such as those aimed at lowering the cost of health care or energy. “Every single Republican in Congress voted against lowering prescription drug prices, against lowering health care costs, against the fair tax system,” he said.The policy wins coincided with a general rebranding of the White House, especially in digital spaces. Mr. Biden’s online image was consciously transformed into a character known as Dark Brandon, portraying him as a quietly effective Machivellian politician. The meme — portraying Mr. Biden in an ominous setting and with laser-red eyes — was originally popular in right-wing communities online. Liberals then adopted and attempted to turn it to their advantage. Following the announcement of a deal on the Inflation Reduction Act, a White House staffer, Andrew Bates, tweeted, “Dark Brandon is crushing it.”Whether it’s the online roasts or the fiery speeches, it looks like the new strategy is working for the president. In a poll released Friday, Gallup found that he enjoys a 44 percent approval rating, the highest in a year.While there is no doubt that he remains unpopular, with 53 percent of those polled disapproving of his job performance, the president has made inroads in the past month, with Gallup finding that his approval rating rose six points between July and August.

Biden’s ‘Dark Brandon’ Branding Seems To Be ‘Crushing It,’ So Far

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