{"id":954,"date":"2026-07-06T17:35:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=954"},"modified":"2026-07-06T17:35:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:35:30","slug":"trump-and-republicans-return-to-communist-attacks-against-democrats-ahead-of-the-midterm-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=954","title":{"rendered":"Trump and Republicans return to communist attacks against Democrats ahead of the midterm elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">WASHINGTON &#8212; <\/span>President <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> and his fellow Republicans are reviving a line of attack against Democrats heading into the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/elections-2026\/\">midterm elections<\/a>: They&#8217;re communists. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In just the past week, Trump has issued dark warnings that members of the Democratic Party&#8217;s ascendant left are communists who want to \u201ccompletely destroy the traditional American way of life&#8221; and even engage in assassinations. Vice President <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/jd-vance\">JD Vance<\/a> has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is \u201csomething we haven&#8217;t seen in the U.S.\u201d House Speaker <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/mike-johnson\/\">Mike Johnson<\/a> has decried \u201cradical candidates\u201d who are \u201cself-described, self-identifying Marxists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The GOP&#8217;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 class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/zohran-mamdani\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, a democratic socialist, won the Democratic nomination for <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/mamdani-cuomo-sliwa-nyc-mayor-af8b9790e7cb4e023d0984a0207cbcca\">New York City mayor<\/a> last year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But it&#8217;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, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/colorado-democratic-socialist-primary-degette-governor-8a77cdb9943f99b70c74fbf811f1bbe3\">Melat Kiros<\/a>, for a Denver congressional seat suggested the trend may extend beyond Manhattan liberalism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThe Democrats are making this easy for us,\u201d Rep. Richard Hudson, the North Carolina Republican who leads the House GOP&#8217;s strategy and fundraising arm, said in an interview. \u201cThey&#8217;re nominating extreme liberals, leftists who are out of touch even with mainstream Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">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&#8217;s decision to launch <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/iran\">a war against Iran<\/a>, which contributed to widespread <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-war-prices-gasoline-groceries-flights-9c413bc111efcfa9bac53b20e9057738\">price spikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ralph Reed, the longtime conservative activist who hosted Trump last week at <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/religious-liberty-church-state-separation-trump-administration-a68ec8ab8b3fab27c6ffb6becc5ccb36\">a Faith and Freedom Coalition conference<\/a>, 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 \u201ccommon sense and crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The renewed push could tug at tensions among Democrats who are largely united in their loathing of Trump but are divided over the party&#8217;s direction. This year&#8217;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. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cA lot of this anger has been boiling under the surface,\u201d said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, which was founded by U.S. Sen. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/bernie-sanders\">Bernie Sanders<\/a>, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats. \u201cIt\u2019s coming to the fore in this moment in a very powerful way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a centrist New Jersey Democrat, called the victories in Colorado and New York \u201caberrations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe\u2019ve got to fight like hell to keep our party from being hijacked by socialists,\u201d he said. \u201cMost of them are bomb throwers, not problem solvers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford easily dispatched a more progressive rival earlier this year in his <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/election-2026-nevada-congress-governor-election-deniers-3b464ffdedf689387c5a099ba6c0d060\">Democratic bid for governor<\/a> in a state Trump carried in 2024. As he eyes a general election challenge to Republican Gov. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/joe-lombardo\">Joe Lombardo<\/a>, he insisted candidates like those who won in New York don&#8217;t represent all Democrats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He said the Democratic Socialists of America \u201cis not the face of our party.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat who chairs the House Democratic campaign committee, said in a statement that Republicans were \u201cresorting to desperate attacks that aren\u2019t actually about the pocketbook issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump and fellow Republicans risk missing the mark when the public&#8217;s embrace of capitalism might not be as strong as it was decades ago. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">About half of U.S. adults, 54%, have a positive view of capitalism, according to an August <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/socialism-socialist-capitalism-big-business-free-enterprise-poll-c052ca687269a2cc075423877b7904e6\">poll from Gallup<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">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&#8217;t shift meaningfully. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cYoung voters, who I would argue are driving a lot of the electoral energy that we&#8217;re seeing, came of age politically in a post-Soviet world,\u201d Geevarghese said. \u201cThe attacks don&#8217;t land in the same way when Donald Trump was politically of age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">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&#8217;s why, he said, it&#8217;s important for Republicans to tailor their message to the needs of individual districts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI&#8217;ve never run cookie-cutter campaigns where we just say one thing over and over everywhere,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Still, the argument was high on Trump&#8217;s mind again on Wednesday as <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-theodore-roosevelt-presidential-library-north-dakota-784bce4c9389b086a8a70a04d06b9939\">he visited<\/a> the newly built Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. He called the former president a \u201cferocious opponent of a thing called communism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIt\u2019s the biggest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, September 11,\u201d he said. &#8220;It\u2019s a bigger threat, potentially a bigger threat than that, because it\u2019s like a cancer that spreads, and you better stop it fast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">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&#8217;s primary foe. But she said Trump&#8217;s focus on the issue is notable given his ties to Roy Cohn, a onetime confidant of Trump who earlier worked for McCarthy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIt&#8217;s not very many steps to get from McCarthy to Roy Cohn to Donald Trump,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">California Gov. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom<\/a>, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, shrugged off Trump&#8217;s communism focus as \u201cbunk.\u201d In an interview, he said the direction of the party isn&#8217;t all that different from the dynamics he&#8217;s navigated for decades in California politics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI governed in an environment where the DSA was otherwise known as progressives,&#8221; he said. \u201cThis dialectic is so deeply familiar to me, and I don&#8217;t over read any of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">This story has been corrected to show the spelling of the Washington congresswoman\u2019s first name is Suzan, not Susan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in contributed to this report<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON &#8212; President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans are reviving a line of attack against Democrats heading into the midterm elections: They&#8217;re communists. In just the past week, Trump has issued dark warnings that members of the Democratic Party&#8217;s ascendant left are communists who want to \u201ccompletely destroy the traditional American way of life&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/eb4e55dd-b350-4c8c-b7e9-cb71062e824a\/wirestory_5381c24e8eb4235ae993e812ad45ffbd_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}