Top Republican unloads on rise of 'anti-American' candidates heading into midterms: 'You got to be kidding'

LEWISTON, MAINE - Rep. Tom Emmer, on the first stop of a 56 district blitz across the country rallying Republican voters, spoke to Fox News Digital about what he describes as an "anti-American" sentiment in the Democratic Party and his party’s message on the economy.

"We're not talking about socialists, these are communists, Marxists, and anarchists," Emmer, the Republican House Majority Whip, told Fox News Digital this week about the rise of far-left candidates in the Democratic Party.

"You got to be kidding. They want us to call them democratic socialists, there's nothing democratic about these people."

Emmer, who was in Maine campaigning for Republican House candidate Paul LePage, specifically took issue with Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, during a television interview at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Emmer has introduced a bill that would denaturalize convicted fraudsters of their U.S. citizenship. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"This guy says ridiculous things like U.S. NFL football is an example of toxic masculinity, he supports a terrorist who believes that America deserved to lose 3,000 people on 9-11, and he's got this Piker guy who's just shooting his mouth off on everything anti-American," Emmer said. "These people are anti-American more than anything else. It's time that we have great candidates like Paul LePage, which is why I'm here, who loves his state, loves this country and believes in the promise of America. We should be out there celebrating it and defending it not tearing it down, that's why you vote for Paul."

With six weeks to go until Election Day and early voting already underway in a handful of states, the conventional wisdom is that Republicans may be in for some setbacks in the midterms.

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Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed poses for a portrait in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

As it defends its fragile House and Senate majorities, the GOP is fighting political history, which has traditionally seen the president's party lose congressional seats during the midterms. It's also battling high costs at the grocery stores and gas pumps tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran, as well as President Donald Trump's underwater approval ratings.

But Democrats are saddled with their own issues, from an ideological civil war between the party's left wing and the establishment that has handed Republicans plenty of political ammunition, to a brand image that's nothing to brag about. Add to that the Democrats' major disadvantage as the GOP floods the airwaves with attack ads.

Fox News Digital asked Emmer what he would say to Republican voters in the current political climate in terms of defending the administration’s record.

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"First off, remember, the Biden administration put this economy in the ditch, literally," Emmer said. "Inflation we hadn't seen in 40 years. Donald Trump and Republicans in the House and the Senate have been putting this economy back on track. We can talk about all the investment and everything else, but we have to be very sensitive to the fact that $4 gas, $6 diesel is unacceptable, but I would argue it still isn't enough to vote for a communist."

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.