Return of the Red Scare: how the US right is weaponising the word ‘communism’
As democratic socialists make inroads into mainstream US politics, one loaded word is doing a lot of work for their ideological opponents.
The term "communism" is being weaponized by the US right, particularly by the Republican Party and its media supporters, in an attempt to discredit and marginalize Democrats. After candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) secured several Democratic primaries in June, President Donald Trump repeatedly invoked communism, calling opponents "hardcore, godless communists" and describing it as a cancer that must be eradicated.
The US State Department published a 100-page report alleging a Cuban-communist influence network involving US journalists, trade unionists, and activists, while the Trump administration hosted a "Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism" attended by representatives from 65 countries, focusing exclusively on left-wing political violence despite evidence of greater danger from the right.
The Republican Party and its media allies are now using the term "communism" consistently, creating the impression that America is under threat of communist revolution. However, this claim is not grounded in reality. Democratic socialists favor greater public ownership and regulation, but their economic proposals are not radical compared to the Nordic countries that the DSA-aligned candidates aspire to emulate.
These countries combine private enterprise and competitive democracy with extensive public services, high taxation, and strong unions. The Trump administration's support for large corporations and its own pet projects also undermine the "communist" characterization.
The term "communism" is being used as a dysphemism, a deliberately disparaging label that compresses a bundle of ideas and emotions into one small package. It conflates four dimensions: economic, political, religious, and the means used to achieve political change. This semantic bait-and-switch suggests that all Democrats, and even most Democrats, must also favor dictatorship, godlessness, and violent revolution.
However, this is a false equivalence. Both Democrats and Republicans favor government intervention in a market economy, but for different purposes.
The rhetoric surrounding "communism" seeks to revive the historical Red Scare, which followed the Russian Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the Palmer Raids and Second Red Scare of the 1950s. These historical precedents involved the arrest and persecution of suspected radicals and immigrants, often without evidence. By invoking the specter of communism, Republicans hope to stigmatize political opponents as dangerous outsiders rather than fellow citizens and make rational debate impossible.
However, despite the Republicans' efforts, communism is not taking over America. While the rhetoric may be desperate, it is not harmless, and it risks dividing the nation along false ideological lines.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
