BALTIMORE – As Republicans blast the majority party over recently enacted hikes in taxes and fees, the Maryland Democratic Party has waged a social media war against Republicans over the Senate passage of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

The battle hit a zenith Tuesday, when the Maryland Democratic Party released an email offering “free help” for Republicans to “find their voice and stand up for their constituents” against what could leave many without health care and accessible food. Republicans, for their part, are highlighting the Democratic leaders who ushered in higher state taxes and fees.

“If any Republican politician truly wants help standing up to Donald Trump and their Party, we are here to help in any way possible,” Joe Francaviglia, the deputy executive director of the Maryland Democratic Party, said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment to stop this one, big, bull**** bill.”

But some members of the GOP say the move is a tactic to pull Republican Party members to the left.

“Apparently, Democrats are out distorting … and demonizing their political opponents because they simply have a different point of view,” Del. Matt Morgan, a St. Mary’s County Republican, said.

‘Constituents or Trump?’

In an email, the Maryland Democratic Party attached a Google Forms link that Republican representatives can fill out with their name, title, contact information and legislative district, as well as a checklist offering different forms of assistance to address what is happening in Congress.

The final option on the form offers a direct diss to the very vocal — and very online — Maryland Freedom Caucus: “Give me guidance on how to beg my fellow Republicans to stop letting the Maryland Freedom Caucus put their crazy front and center,” it reads.

The Maryland Freedom Caucus is a seven-member faction of Republicans in the Maryland House of Delegates.

When asked to respond to the direct attack by the Democratic Party, Morgan, who chairs the Maryland Freedom Caucus, burst into laughter.

“You’ve seen a lot of this coming out of the Dems,” he said in a phone interview.

Morgan pointed to a social media campaign launched by the Maryland Democratic Party on Monday, targeting Republicans across legislative districts.

On X, the party posted graphics featuring pictures of groups of Republican representatives in each county, overlaid with text indicating how many of their constituents are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage.

Each of the Democratic Party’s posts ends with “these Republicans are silent.”

A similar campaign was launched Tuesday regarding food assistance. This time the text reads, “Will these Republicans stand with their constituents or Trump?”

‘Scare tactics’

Though former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, won Maryland overall in the 2024 presidential election, 16 of the state’s 24 jurisdictions swung in favor of Trump. Living among those areas are 328,798 Marylanders at risk of losing Medicaid coverage under Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” according to Medicaid data from the state Department of Health.

More than 1.5 million Marylanders are Medicaid recipients overall.

A fiscal briefing before the Joint Federal Action Oversight Committee by the nonpartisan Maryland Department of Legislative Services last week estimated that approximately 130,000 Marylanders enrolled through Medicaid expansions under the federal Affordable Care Act are at risk of losing coverage under the U.S. House version of the bill.

Estimates under the U.S. Senate version were not available at the time of the briefing.

Morgan said the Democratic Party is instituting scare tactics, because “a lot of people don’t understand Medicaid.”

“Medicaid … is a temporary health program set up for people who are down on their luck,” he said. “It’s not [a] taxpayer responsibility to provide for able-bodied people what they should be able to provide for themselves.”

The Maryland Freedom Caucus launched its own social media campaign Monday in response to the Democratic Party, choosing to focus instead on state policy — notably, the provision in Maryland’s budget deal that is poised to bring in approximately $1.6 billion in new taxes and fees.

The budget and its companion revenue bill took effect Tuesday.

In their own graphics posted to X, the Maryland Freedom Caucus overlaid text reading “every Marylander is about to get hit with a tax increase, and these Democrats made it happen” below pictures of Maryland’s top Democrats, including Gov. Wes Moore, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson.

“We just had enough of it,” Morgan said.

‘Behind the ball’

The approach the state Democratic Party is taking is more aggressive than what has been seen from the national party, which, after losing the 2024 presidential election, has lacked unity in messaging and tactics, a political analyst said.

Flavio Hickel Jr., an associate professor of political science at Washington College, said that Democrats largely have been “behind the ball” in regard to organized internet trolling seen among high-level Republicans like Trump.

To Hickel, this level of trolling could be an effective tactic to reach the younger base that Democrats need to attract in upcoming elections, even if it is troublesome to older or centrist Democratic voters who yearn for a traditional style, he said.

“People want to see fighters … [and] people who are not afraid to go outside of the norm,” Hickel said.

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