Former president Bill Clinton on Wednesday said Republicans’ strategy in this year’s midterm elections is to demoralise and anger voters to win elections and then blame Democrats when GOP policies worsen life for them.
Speaking at an appearance in support of Democratic House candidate Josh Riley, the 42nd president called the GOP approach to campaigning and governing “pretty simple” and “straightforward”.
“They say, I want you to be very miserable. And I want you to be very angry, and vote. I want you to vote for us and we will make it worse. But we'll blame them,” he said.
Mr Clinton added: “You couldn’t make this up”.
The ex-president’s comments come as Democrats are looking at Tuesday’s elections with more than a bit of trepidation.
Voters appear poised to throw out Democratic incumbents in numerous districts which were once considered safe territory for the party, and Republicans look to be in a position to regain control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2018.
The GOP is also poised to wrest back control of the Senate from Democrats despite widespread concerns over candidate quality, with Republican challengers appearing to have momentum in key races for Senate seats in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
With the Senate tied at 50-50, the GOP needs only flip a single Democratic-held seat to garner a majority in the upper chamber.
