WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President and his fellow Republicans are reviving a line of attack against Democrats heading into the : They’re communists.
In just the past week, Trump has issued dark warnings that members of the Democratic Party’s ascendant left are communists who want to 鈥渃ompletely destroy the traditional American way of life” and even engage in assassinations. Vice President has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is 鈥渟omething we haven’t seen in the U.S.鈥� House Speaker has decried 鈥渞adical candidates鈥� who are 鈥渟elf-described, self-identifying Marxists.鈥�
The GOP’s ideological focus conflates democratic socialism, which often centers on securing universal healthcare, higher taxes on the wealthy and stricter corporate regulation, with communism, under which private ownership is largely eliminated. It has been building since , a democratic socialist, won the Democratic nomination for last year.
But it’s kicked into a higher gear recently after democratic socialists won several New York City congressional primaries last week. The primary victory on Tuesday by another democratic socialist, , for a Denver congressional seat suggested the trend may extend beyond Manhattan liberalism.
鈥淭he Democrats are making this easy for us,鈥� Rep. Richard Hudson, the North Carolina Republican who leads the House GOP’s strategy and fundraising arm, said in an interview. 鈥淭hey’re nominating extreme liberals, leftists who are out of touch even with mainstream Democrats.鈥�
Republicans are holding onto slim majorities
The messaging effort comes as Republicans scramble to hold onto threadbare congressional majorities in the November midterms. It risks overlooking public frustration, particularly among younger voters, with unfettered capitalism at a time of growing income inequality and rising costs.
But it also gives Republicans a much-needed opportunity to shift the conversation back to territory that is more comfortable for them after their party has spent much of the year on defense over the fallout from Trump’s decision to launch , which contributed to widespread .
Ralph Reed, the longtime conservative activist who hosted Trump last week at , acknowledged that Republicans are facing steep headwinds this year. But the recent string of wins by democratic socialists, he said, allows Republicans to present a contrast between 鈥渃ommon sense and crazy.鈥�
Democrats are uncertain over the party’s direction
The renewed push could tug at tensions among Democrats who are largely united in their loathing of Trump but are divided over the party’s direction. This year’s primaries are shaping up as a referendum between centrists who are eager to course correct from what they see as progressive overreach earlier in the decade and a left-wing pushing for even more sweeping change.
鈥淎 lot of this anger has been boiling under the surface,鈥� said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, which was founded by U.S. Sen. , a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats. 鈥淚t鈥檚 coming to the fore in this moment in a very powerful way.鈥�
But Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a centrist New Jersey Democrat, called the victories in Colorado and New York 鈥渁berrations.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to fight like hell to keep our party from being hijacked by socialists,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ost of them are bomb throwers, not problem solvers.鈥�
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford easily dispatched a more progressive rival earlier this year in his in a state Trump carried in 2024. As he eyes a general election challenge to Republican Gov. , he insisted candidates like those who won in New York don’t represent all Democrats.
He said the Democratic Socialists of America 鈥渋s not the face of our party.鈥�
Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat who chairs the House Democratic campaign committee, said in a statement that Republicans were 鈥渞esorting to desperate attacks that aren鈥檛 actually about the pocketbook issues.鈥�
Trump risks overreaching with communism argument
Trump and fellow Republicans risk missing the mark when the public’s embrace of capitalism might not be as strong as it was decades ago.
About half of U.S. adults, 54%, have a positive view of capitalism, according to an August , a slight decline from 61% in 2010. Democrats have driven some of the shift, but favorable opinions of capitalism have fallen among independents as well.
Only 42% of Democrats viewed capitalism favorably, while 66% had a positive view of socialism. The poll found that both younger and older Democrats have warmed slightly on socialism since 2010, but Democrats under age 50 are much less likely to view capitalism favorably. Democrats age 50 or older didn’t shift meaningfully.
鈥淵oung voters, who I would argue are driving a lot of the electoral energy that we’re seeing, came of age politically in a post-Soviet world,鈥� Geevarghese said. 鈥淭he attacks don’t land in the same way when Donald Trump was politically of age.鈥�
Hudson, who is running the House GOP campaign committee, acknowledged the communism line might not resonate in the same way with all voters, particularly younger people. That’s why, he said, it’s important for Republicans to tailor their message to the needs of individual districts.
鈥淚’ve never run cookie-cutter campaigns where we just say one thing over and over everywhere,鈥� he said.
Still, the argument was high on Trump’s mind again on Wednesday as the newly built Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. He called the former president a 鈥渇erocious opponent of a thing called communism.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 the biggest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, September 11,鈥� he said. “It鈥檚 a bigger threat, potentially a bigger threat than that, because it鈥檚 like a cancer that spreads, and you better stop it fast.鈥�
Beverly Gage, a history professor at Yale University who has written on the rise and fall of Sen. Joe McCarthy, said earlier eras of anti-communism politics took hold because there was a large and active Communist Party in the U.S. and the Soviet Union was the country’s primary foe. But she said Trump’s focus on the issue is notable given his ties to Roy Cohn, a onetime confidant of Trump who earlier worked for McCarthy.
鈥淚t’s not very many steps to get from McCarthy to Roy Cohn to Donald Trump,鈥� she said.
California Gov. , a potential Democratic presidential candidate, shrugged off Trump’s communism focus as 鈥渂unk.鈥� In an interview, he said the direction of the party isn’t all that different from the dynamics he’s navigated for decades in California politics.
鈥淚 governed in an environment where the DSA was otherwise known as progressives,” he said. 鈥淭his dialectic is so deeply familiar to me, and I don’t over read any of it.鈥�
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This story has been corrected to show the spelling of the Washington congresswoman鈥檚 first name is Suzan, not Susan.
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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in contributed to this report
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