Following President Joe Biden’s subpar performance at the first 2024 presidential debate and a number of reports documenting his cognitive decline, Democrats are divided on whether he should remain the party’s nominee.
Some Senate Democrats plan to ask Biden to step aside, and the internet is betting on Vice President Kamala Harris to end up as nominee.
And amid fears a diminished Biden would lose to former President Donald Trump, commentators are pushing back against those who have adopted the “Biden or bust” mindset, dubbing them “Blue MAGA.”
What is Blue MAGA?
Trump’s campaign slogan in 2016, “Make America Great Again,” spawned a conservative political movement.
Those accused of being “Blue MAGA” show an almost blind faith in Biden, similar to the slavish adoration far-right Trump supporters heap on the former president.
The moniker is trying to call them out.
MSNBC host Joy Reid recently compared the race to “an oldie or Hitler,” saying she would vote for Biden even if he were in a coma to keep Trump out of the White House.
The comment went viral across news sites, with Reid getting dubbed Blue MAGA.
“Blue MAGA is real,” wrote one viral tweet.
The overlooking of potential flaws in their party’s nominee was, many noted, straight from the MAGA playbook.
“All this does is make our warnings that Trump is a cult seem equivocal,” political commentator S.E. Cupp tweeted. “Now it’s the same. Congrats, you’ve reduced your guy to blind worship too.”
The efforts to squelch down any dissent among the party over Biden’s ability drew similar frustrations.
Yesterday, after Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) called on Biden to step aside in the presidential race, Chris Jackson, a Tennessee election commissioner who is #TeamJoe, tweeted that Nadler is “morbidly obese and has passed out in public multiple times.”
“Read the room dude,” Jackson tweeted, seeming to address Nadler. “This ain’t a game yall want to play,” an insult that sounds right out of Trump’s playbook.
Today, Jackson called a journalist who said Biden is no longer electable “insufferable.” He also said another journalist was “lying” over whether Biden has been tested for age-related ailments.
“I have never witnessed so many journalists just making [shit] up,” Jackson tweeted.
Jackson’s tweet about Nadler, in particular, earned him “Blue MAGA” dings.
“This Blue MAGA shit is so tiresome,” a Democrat X user tweeted of Jackson.
Others are even comparing the efforts of Biden’s staunchest defenders to those of Trump’s most conspiratorial posters.
“I think it’s cool and not weird that Democrats have their own Mike Lindell and Jack Posobiec now,” a tweet read.
That post called out Jackson and Rachel Bitecofer, a Democratic author and political strategist, claiming she was pushing misinformation surrounding the 2024 election.
Yesterday, Bitecofer said that deadlines to register party candidates on ballots had already passed in Wisconsin and Nevada—and that if Biden were to be replaced, Republicans would “fight to keep any replacement nominee/ticket off.”
Bitecofer’s statement is untrue. In Nevada and Wisconsin, parties have until September to register a candidate. She is now receiving harsh criticism for tweeting false statements—seemingly in an attempt to get Democratic voters to rally around Biden.
“This is not true. We have not nominated a candidate, and we retain the right to nominate any candidate who will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” an X user responded to Bitecofer’s tweet. “I’m not advocating for a switcheroo but let’s not spread misinformation.”
“Is there any amount of ‘this is not true’ that people can tell you that will make you stop sharing this incorrect statement?” another X user replied. “Seems like the answer is no but just making sure.”
Many critics of “Blue MAGA” figures and behaviors stress that the Democratic party’s nominee for president should be one that a majority of the party’s voters believe in—not one that voters have to “self-gaslight” themselves into supporting.
“What kind of fucking idiot says ‘no one likes Biden, but we have to vote for him to save democracy,’” an X user tweeted last week. “Do you not understand that liking your candidate is part of a real democracy? Having someone who ACTUALLY represents you is what democracy is all about. Fuck Blue MAGA.”
“Blue MAGA is big mad. They want us to ignore that Biden’s brain has completely melted & that he’s no longer fit to hold office,” another X user wrote. “They prefer false pretenses & think it’s ‘noble’ to gaslight. It’s not. You fool no one.”
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