At rallies and campaign-style speeches across the country this summer, President Donald Trump is increasingly portraying Democrats as communists, betting that the message will sharpen the ideological contrast heading into November's midterm elections. The attacks intensified after a string of democratic socialist-backed candidates won high-profile Democratic primaries in New York in late June. According to a TIME analysis, Trump has invoked communism 94 times in public remarks and social media posts since June 25, describing some of the party’s candidates as "hardcore, godless communists."
The barrage has become one of the central themes of Trump's political message heading into the November midterms, even as polls continue to show that voters remain most concerned about the economy and the cost of living. Republicans see the recent primary victories as an opportunity to shift the conversation away from those issues and toward a broader ideological debate. Progressive candidates have argued that addressing affordability requires expanding government-funded programs, raising taxes on wealthy Americans, and strengthening labor protections—positions Republicans increasingly characterize as evidence that the party is embracing socialism or even communism.
"I would hope that Democratic primary voters pick more mainstream candidates, because every time they pick a radical, it makes it harder for people elsewhere to run and win," says Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the centrist Democratic organization Third Way.
“If running on that agenda invites attacks, I think we should lean into it,” says Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of Our Revolution, a liberal group founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders. “The best way to guard yourself against attacks is to stand for nothing…The electorate wants candidates who are fighting to challenge the status quo.”
Trump's attacks echo the anti-communist politics of the Cold War and the Red Scare, when accusations of communist sympathies could end political careers. Trump came of age during that period and was mentored by Roy Cohn, who served as chief counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the infamous anti-communist hearings of the 1950s.
Trump and other Republican leaders largely dismiss such distinctions as they center attacks around Democrats aligned with the democratic socialist movement, most notably New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “We WILL NOT let MINI MAMDANIs take over the greatest nation in the history of the world," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on social media last week with a political cartoon depicting New York City awash in communist signifiers including a sickle.
Bennett argues that, while Trump's rhetoric is characteristically exaggerated, Republicans have been handed openings by a few prominent candidates with past statements expressing admiration for communist thinkers or flirting with communist labels. Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist congressional candidate in New York who defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat in last month’s Democratic primary, had a social media account that she has since deleted featuring posts in which she appeared sympathetic to communism. “He is not making this up out of whole cloth,” Bennett says of Trump’s attacks. “It's much harder to push back when there's a grain of truth to the charge.”
Even candidates who have merely been endorsed by progressive organizations have sought to draw distinctions. Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Senate candidate backed by Bernie Sanders, told TIME he supports capitalism and rejects the socialist label, underscoring the discomfort some Democrats feel about allowing Republicans to define the party through its most ideological wing.
"Public opinion suggests Trump's message could resonate differently across the electorate. Gallup has found that most Americans continue to view socialism unfavorably, though Democrats express more positive attitudes than Republicans. Younger voters, however, appear considerably more receptive. A recent Cato Institute survey found Gen Z respondents viewed socialism more favorably than capitalism, and were more likely than older Americans to support candidates identifying as democratic socialists. At the same time, Republicans are betting that anti-communist rhetoric will carry particular weight among older voters and many Hispanic communities whose families fled left-wing authoritarian governments, making the message as much about energizing the party's base as persuading swing voters.
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