Communism isn't taking over the US, despite what GOP says | Opinion
It seems we're on the verge of another Red Scare in the United States, so long as it's a winning political message for Republicans.
President Donald Trump has been going on the offensive against what he sees as the radical reimagining of the Democratic Party by speaking about communism in several recent appearances.
"They're animals," Trump said on June 26 at the Faith & Freedom Coalition. "We have to stop this horrible threat of cancer that's permeating our country called communism."
The president went on to call communists "godless" in a room full of Christian conservatives,
He continued these attacks at a June 29 White House news conference, where he insisted that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who ran on the Democratic Party ticket in 2025, was not a democratic socialist at all, but a communist.
"I think it's the biggest threat to our nation there is, maybe since our founding," Trump said. "That includes World War I, World War II, September 11th, it includes the Pearl Harbor attack."
I can't believe that we're even having this discussion. The idea that some overhyped radical left is about to take over the nation is laughably false. Democrats barely want democratic socialists in their party – why on earth would they suddenly be welcoming Marxist theory with open arms?
And now a quick refresher on communism and extreme politics
Let's clear up some misconceptions about communism and democratic socialism in the terms your high school civics teacher probably used.
Communism, a term popularized by Karl Marx, is a form of socialism focused on seizing the means of production for the purpose of public ownership and use. There are several versions of communism, but in Marx's interpretation, communism involves a few people controlling everything that happens in society.
Democratic socialism is similar but different. Democratic socialists also believe in government control of the economy over capitalism. They also believe in democracy ‒ as opposed to an authoritarian regime that controls the party and therefore society.
It's funny that Republicans can see the extremism in everyone else but fail to recognize it in themselves. While the DSA wants absolutely radical policies like Medicare for all and universal childcare, the Make America Great Again movement has stormed the U.S. Capitol and decimated the social safety net in favor of terrorizing immigrants and the transgender community and started a war with Iran that wrecked the economy.
Communists do exist in the United States. Their political power is extremely, extremely limited. Instead of fighting for a revolution, they mostly seem to fight among themselves.
Their actual candidates – not democratic socialists, but genuine communists – never seem to pick up political traction.
To say that they are conniving radicals ready to take over the Democratic Party is ridiculous and incorrect. They would have to actually convert their theory discussion into action for this to happen.
Republicans will hammer the message. Democrats have work to do.
Of course Republicans are terrified of communism. The American public school system has been warning against the evils of this particular political doctrine for their entire lives, to the point that the mere mention of the word "communism" sends them into a tizzy, regardless of how real the "threat" is.
Democrats also seem fearful of the power this message wields. They refuse to acknowledge that the DSA is even a faction in the party. Many refused to support Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, during his presidential bids. Many were so scared of any affiliation with something "radical" that they mostly failed to endorse Mamdani prior to his 2025 election in New York City – even when he was the Democratic nominee.
This failure on Democrats' part to stand up to the claims of far-left extremism in the party is a troubling sign of what's to come in November. If the Democratic Party doesn't get ahead of this messaging and clearly state that there is no communism in the party, there's a chance this message will stick.
At worst, we could be on the precipice of another McCarthy era – a time where the federal government, empowered by the fear of a boogeyman mostly of their own creation, begins infringing on free speech in pursuit of keeping the country free of radicalism. This seems to be the route we're on, and it will only harm the United States.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky:@sarapequeno.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Communism isn't taking over the US, despite what GOP says | Opinion
Reporting by Sara Pequeño, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 1:04 AM.