Second gentleman Doug Emhoff has accused Republicans of "trying to cheat" in order to achieve a "power grab" and defended President Joe Biden's administration.
Emhoff, who is married to Vice President Kamala Harris, made the remarks at a fundraiser in Brentwood, Los Angeles on Friday and suggested the administration could do more to promote its achievements, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Democrats are facing crucial midterm elections this year with the GOP hoping to retake the House of Representatives and the Senate, which would allow the party to stymie Biden's agenda.
According to the L.A. Times, Emhoff told the fundraising event: "We know what we're for. We're for doing the work for the American people."
"We're serious people doing the serious work of government," he said.
"We are going to be able to make our case to the American people as we go into the midterms," the second gentleman said.
Emhoff then took aim at the Republican Party.
"What are they for other than a power grab and basically trying to cheat to get there?" he said.
Though it was not immediately clear what Emhoff was referring to, he may have been making reference to new voting restrictions that have been introduced and proposed by Republicans across the country.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting between January 1 and December 7, 2021, while President Biden has railed against new restrictions, describing them as "Jim Crow 2.0."
Newsweek has asked the Republican National Committee for comment.
Emhoff appeared to acknowledge that the Biden administration could do more to promote its successes over the past year and suggested that would happen in the near future.
He pointed to the fact that more than 200 million Americans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package as well as funds provided under the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
"This administration had a really great first year. It really has," the second gentleman said.
"Do we all need to do a better job of communicating publicly all the things I've told you? Probably. But you're starting to see that. You're starting to see more media. The president said, and the vice president said, we have to get out of D.C. Sure enough, you're starting to see that," Emhoff said.
Vice President Harris has had a difficult first year and her approval rating has been stubbornly low. Though President Biden's approval has been in negative territory since August 30, Harris has proven even less popular than the president.
Poll tracker FiveThirtyEight is tracking Harris' approval rating by analyzing a wide variety of polls and through its own system of pollsters ratings. It gave Harris an approval rating of 38.6 percent as of February 9, while her disapproval stood at 50.4 percent.
