On the eve of the nation’s 250th birthday, President Donald Trump used his address Friday night at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota to allege that there is “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land.”

“Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty,” Trump said. “It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor or even 9/11.”

Though he did not directly link Democratic socialists to communism in the speech, the rhetoric continued a recent theme of criticism by Trump alluding to electoral successes by Democratic socialist candidates. That includes New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who upset a Democratic New York City congressman last month in a primary election.

Democratic socialists advocate for expanding parts of the social safety net, such as health care coverage, through democratic means. Communist tenets include central economic planning and abolishing private property.

In Trump’s speech, he pivoted from communism to Republican chances in the November midterm elections.

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He then said Republicans will “not lose an election for a hundred years” if they terminate the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act. The filibuster is a U.S. Senate rule that requires the votes of at least 60 senators to limit debate on most bills. The SAVE America Act would require all voters to prove their U.S. citizenship when they register and show identification at the polls.