More than three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a U.S. President is once again casting the threat of communism as one of the biggest issues facing American voters.
At rallies and campaign-style speeches across the country this summer, President Donald Trump is increasingly portraying Democrats as communists, betting that the message will sharpen the ideological contrast heading into November's midterm elections. The attacks intensified after a string of democratic socialist-backed candidates won high-profile Democratic primaries in New York in late June. According to a TIME analysis, Trump has invoked communism 94 times in public remarks and social media posts since June 25, describing some of the party’s candidates as "hardcore, godless communists."
The Republican President used similar language at the NATO summit with world leaders, in his Fourth of July address on the National Mall, in remarks to religious conservatives, and during a stop in North Dakota, where he argued that communism poses a greater threat to the United States than major historical attacks and wars. "You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot," Trump said in his Independence Day speech. "You cannot be both."
The barrage has become one of the central themes of Trump's political message heading into the November midterms, even as polls continue to show that voters remain most concerned about the economy and the cost of living. Republicans see the recent primary victories as an opportunity to shift the conversation away from those issues and toward a broader ideological debate. Progressive candidates have argued that addressing affordability requires expanding government-funded programs, raising taxes on wealthy Americans, and strengthening labor protections—positions Republicans increasingly characterize as evidence that the party is embracing socialism or even communism.
Democrats, meanwhile, are divided over how
