The Commun[Ism] Schism

Trump wants billions to "fight communism on our own shores."

Speaker Mike Johnson calls for billions to be spent on fighting communism in the U.S.

Samuel Johnson was noted for calling patriotism “the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Johnson wasn’t attacking patriotism itself but rather, politicians who weaponized it for self-interest. Today it seems that the modern American refuge is anti-communism. It has been the American politicians’ all‑purpose moral disinfectant, the thing you can rub on any abuse of power while calling it “patriotism.”

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President Trump's current anti-communism crusade is his last refuge before an impending blue wave could give MAGAs the boot in the midterm elections.

The crusade centers on framing all progressive politicians as a dangerous, "godless" threat to the United States. China is targeted as the main external communist threat. Trump and his administration frequently describe communism as the gravest danger to the nation, ranking it as a more significant threat than past world wars or terrorist attacks. They’ve officially designated an Anti-Communism Week.

In a C‑SPAN clip now circulating widely, House Speaker Mike Johnson (no relation to Samuel) declared that the Pentagon is “asking for an additional $350 billion,” and that this money is earmarked in part for “fighting communism on our own shores.”

It means that, faced with an impending defeat in the midterms, current GOP messaging on the 2020 “rigged” election, the lost war in Iran, support for Israel, and the “best ever” domestic economy are all failing. Cold War messaging is the fallback emergency flare they’re firing into the sky to see if anything still moves independent voters their way.

Johnson’s call for billions to fight communism comes in the wake of President Trump’s Happy Birthday America speech, which harkened back to the Cold War and the McCarthy Red Scare of the 1950s. During the height of that Red Scare, the communist label was terrifying and devastating for the left. Communists and “fellow travelers” were driven underground, blacklisted from jobs, imprisoned, or even executed like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

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Trump claims that “communism is now a bigger threat to the U.S. than WWII,” the implication being that the U.S. should have aligned with Hitler against the USSR rather than the other way around. During his White House address Thursday night, he repeatedly labeled Democrats “communists,” accused China of interfering in the 2020 election, and alleged “shocking vulnerabilities” in American voting systems.

His comments contradicted previous US intelligence assessments. A 2021 report by the US National Intelligence Council said it had “high confidence” that China did not interfere in the 2020 presidential election.

“We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election,” the report stated.

In several recent speeches, Trump has used language about “vanquishing communism” and sending “them” into exile and reposted a video calling for “hardcore communist bastards” to be deported, including New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

But unlike the 50’s Red Scare, this one seems to be playing badly with voters.
Trump’s White House was widely criticized and mocked by observers across the political system and came after the release of a new poll from the Washington Post-Ipsos, which indicated his approval rating had dropped to 37%, with many voters pessimistic about the cost of living and the ongoing war with Iran.

Socialist candidates are winning elections despite red-baiting in many cities across the country. Young leftists and radical activists, following the example of leaders like Mamdani, aren’t running for cover or going underground. All good signs for the future of emerging democratic movements.