A spate of primary victories by democratic socialists — from New York to Colorado — have Republicans trying out the kind of hyperbole not heard since Sen. Joseph McCarthy. To paraphrase Barack Obama: The 1950s called. They want their rhetoric back.
It’s not just coming from the Fox News flamethrowers, either. This goes all the way to the top. During a recent speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition, President Trump described democratic socialists as “hard-core, godless communists.” On July 3, he declared, “You can be loyal to Karl Marx or you can be loyal to America. You can be a communist or a patriot. You cannot be both.” And he continued the onslaught the next day on America’s 250th, saying communism is “like a cancer.”
As with so many of Trump’s attacks, the “commie” charge begins with a germ of a plausible point — only to run right past it. Yes, Democratic Socialists of America advocate left-wing, progressive policies that are outside the mainstream. But dismissing them all as “communists” collapses vital distinctions, deprives us of a real conversation — and may, in the long run, weaken conservatives’ ability to defend economic and political freedom.