LOS ANGELES — Striking a populist stand ahead of the midterm elections, President Barack Obama is demanding “economic patriotism” from American corporations that seek overseas mergers to avoid U.S. taxes.

Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing to severely limit such deals, a move resisted by Republicans who argue the entire corporate tax code needs an overhaul.

“The president has made clear that these companies are essentially renouncing their American citizenship by shipping their profits overseas to avoid paying taxes even as they benefit from all the advantages of being here in America,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.

“That’s precisely what we mean by economic patriotism.”

The push comes amid a developing trend by companies to reorganize with foreign entities through deals called “inversions” partly to reduce their tax payments in the U.S.

But it also comes ahead of the fall political campaign as Democrats seek to draw sharp contrasts with Republicans by portraying them as defenders of corporate loopholes, and as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and others have been drawing praise from liberal arms of the Democratic Party for their overtly populist positions.