“This is something that admits the power and influence of the MAGA movement and President Trump’s strength over the party, and for some reason Biden thinks that’s an insult,” said Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich. “I don’t understand what he’s trying to achieve, especially given that right about now, whether you’re a mother trying to feed your child who needs formula or someone trying to fill up your car, ultra MAGA sounds pretty good.”

Trump himself “absolutely loved” the great MAGA king meme and has privately mocked Biden and his fellow Democrats as bad branders who do not understand the art of marketing, said a person briefed on his thinking, speaking anonymously to share private details.

Trump and his fellow Republicans’ embrace of “ultra MAGA” reflects the former president’s skill at co-opting would-be insults or even random phrases. In 2016, for instance, when Hillary Clinton, then the Democratic nominee for president, said that half of Trump supporters belonged in what she termed a “basket of deplorables,” Trump and his base quickly embraced the term, turning it into a rallying cry.