ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Watch out Trump supporters! Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden is on the trail and has downgraded you from “deplorables” to the “dregs of society.” It’s the September before an election, and like well-oiled machines, Democratic leadership crawls out of their basement, ready to instill fear, division and loathing into the American electorate. And they hate you even more than they did before.

One would think they would have learned that denigrating the American people is passe, but it’s all they have, and yet they still have to have you rubes, rednecks and deplorables for your vote. But their biggest insult is to their own base whom they believe are so unhinged and lacking of a moral compass, that casting their neighbors as something less than human will inspire them.

People keep insisting that the Democrats and media hate President Trump. Actually, they don’t. The political and media establishment have known him and liked him for decades. It’s you they loathe, and now Mr. Trump is our stand-in, taking the heat, lies and insults. Until the Democratic cup of hate overfloweth.

Let’s take Uncle Joe, shall we? A man who’s marketed as a happy-go-lucky nice guy; the man you can trust, because he’s … nice. For Barack Obama, Mr. Biden was the perfect choice for vice president as he would do as he was told. And he had as much contempt for the American people as Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton did. He fit right in.

It was at the annual Human Rights Foundation dinner where Mr. Biden decided to appeal to the attendees’ worst selves.

“Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden assailed President Trump’s supporters during a speech Saturday at the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington, lamenting that ‘virulent people’ and the ‘dregs of society’ still had a friend in the White House,” The Washington Times reported.

” ‘They’re a small percentage of the American people, virulent people,’ he continued. ‘Some of them the dregs of society. And instead of using the full might of the executive branch to secure justice, dignity [and] safety for all, the president uses the White House as a literal, literal bully pulpit, callously exerting his power over those who have little or none.’”

So nice to see the Democrats are now relying on inspiring messages, lifting people up and focusing on how to improve the quality of people’s lives. Said no one ever.

When it comes to the Democrats, it’s clear we will never have our own Sally Field moment where we can genuinely exclaim, “You like me, right now, you like me!” Why? Because Democratic leadership doesn’t like us. Democratic leadership has clearly decided that insulting half of America is still a good idea.

Make no mistake, this pathetic effort to demonize the American people is a calculated, strategic choice. Mr. Biden’s comments are remarkably similar to Mrs. Clinton unleashing the insult strategy in September 2016. Her “deplorables” remark was astounding because it indicated her campaign had decided they couldn’t win undecideds over, so it was best to demonize them which they thought would excite their base. What does that tell you?

In September 2016, The Guardian reported on Mrs. Clinton’s remarks at a fundraiser in New York featuring Barbra Streisand, “… Trump’s supporters belonged in ‘a basket of deplorables’ which she described as consisting of ‘the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it.’ She went to note ‘some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.’ “

It’s not just Mr. Biden picking up that machete, it’s also echoed by Obama pal, former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. who lobbed the more familiar accusation of “racist” at people who support the president.

At the same dinner where Mr. Biden demonized tens of millions of Americans, Mr. Holder was fast and furious with his accusations.

” ‘This sort of thinking, this ‘Make America Great’ mindset is not only flawed, it’s rooted in fear,’ ” Mr. Holder said. He also “questioned to what period of American history the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan was referring. ‘Certainly, it was not when people were enslaved. …’ ‘I’ll never call him the president,’ Mr. Holder said, noting the message would be directed to ‘the extremists who surround [Trump] and to those that support him…’ ” Fox News reported.

Earlier this month, in a tour consisting of rallies praising himself and attacking Mr. Trump, Mr. Obama also added to the Democratic narrative by declaring Americans who don’t pay allegiance to the liberal agenda are angry and suffering from mental illness.

Fox News reported this about his remarks, “I have to say this … Over the past few decades, the politics of division and resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home in the Republican Party.”

As we approach the midterms, the Democrats are determined to punish you for being right in 2016 and to malign Mr. Trump for being successful. “Deplorable” is so 2016 and simply won’t do. We are now the dregs of society, a virus, racist, bullies, fearful, resentful and paranoid. These obscene attacks on the American people were rejected before, and the only way to reject them again is to take nothing for granted in November.

• Tammy Bruce, president of Independent Women’s Voice, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk show host.