Why does Trump keep talking about ‘communism’?
Trump’s Communist Counterattack: A Modern Red-Baiting Strategy
Why does Trump keep talking about – As the midterm election cycle intensifies, President Donald Trump has established a consistent rhetorical pattern: labeling political adversaries as communists. This approach has emerged as his preferred method of counterattack, particularly as progressive voices gain momentum within the Democratic Party following several notable primary victories.
Weekend Speeches Highlight Communist Concerns
During celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary, the president delivered remarks that harkened back to earlier American political eras. At a July 3 semiquincentennial gathering at Mount Rushmore, Trump declared that communism represents “a mortal threat to American liberty.” He went further, characterizing it as surpassing even major historical crises in severity.
“It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor or even 9/11.”
Within a thirty-minute address, the president referenced communism or communist fourteen separate times. The following day, during a Fourth of July event on the National Mall, he again emphasized warnings about communist influence, pledging to a supportive audience that “America will never be a communist country.”
Red-Baiting Returns to Republican Strategy
The renewed emphasis on communism coincides with democratic socialist successes in various congressional and municipal primary elections. These victories have energized progressive factions while creating concern among more centrist party officials. In response, Trump and Republican allies have revived the traditional practice of red-baiting.
“This is not your granddaddy’s Democrat Party,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated during a recent Fox News appearance. “These are communists.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed similar sentiments on Sunday, explaining the Republican perspective on the political shift.
“It’s communism, socialism, those are deviations of Marxism,” Johnson told Fox News. “This is communism, and it has led to the murder of innocent people, tens of millions of them in the 20th century alone. We have to fight this.”
Historical Context of the Term
CNN’s “Word of the Week” segment provides background on the terminology Trump employs. The word “communism,” derived from the French “communisme,” entered English vocabulary approximately in 1840, predating Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ “Communist Manifesto” by eight years. The concept broadly envisions a society without classes, money, or state structures, featuring collective ownership of property and production means.
The term acquired negative connotations in American political and industrial circles during the early twentieth century. Labor movements with strong immigrant participation from Eastern and Southern Europe introduced Marxist principles into the often-contentious relationship between employers and employees. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, American officials worried about comparable upheaval domestically, while nativist groups perceived incoming immigrants as national security risks.
Trump’s Broader Political Message
According to Austin Sarat, a jurisprudence and political science professor at Amherst College, Trump’s communist warnings transcend specific ideological positions. Rather than addressing the precise beliefs of democratic socialist candidates, Sarat explains that the president uses the term as shorthand for “un-American,” communicating to his supporters that traditional American values face endangerment.
“You can be loyal to Karl Marx or you can be loyal to America,” Trump declared during his July 3 address. “You can be a communist or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both.”
Sarat characterizes this approach as a comprehensive method of distinguishing perceived threats from the mainstream.
“It’s a kind of broad-brush way of saying, ‘These people are not like us; these people threaten our way of life,'” Sarat observes.
This accusatory technique traces back through American political history. Senator Joseph McCarthy gained national prominence in the 1940s and 1950s by claiming communist infiltration of American institutions, damaging reputations and careers while forcing individuals to disclose their political associations. Roy Cohn, McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Army hearings, later served as a lawyer and mentor to a young Donald Trump. Similar warnings about left-leaning sympathies contributed to Richard Nixon’s Senate victory in 1950. Throughout American history, the communist designation has functioned as a powerful tool for discrediting political opponents across various movements and eras.