If Democrats are communists, so is Trump
Reckless charges keep flying
Gordon L. Weil
The Democrats are communists. Donald Trump is a communist.
The Democrats push national health insurance, a key element
of European socialism. Communists claim
to be socialists and are the dedicated opponents of the American political and
economic systems. MAGA Republicans say
that pro-government Democrats undermine the U.S. and are communists.
Donald Trump cultivates one-person rule à la Joseph Stalin,
the late leader of the Communist Party’s Soviet Union, America’s enemy. An authoritarian regime, it always won sham
elections and ruthlessly suppressed any opposition. It hijacked socialism, using it as a myth to
cloak outright dictatorship by one person.
Like Stalin, Trump sanctions the killing and persecution of
people who oppose his policies and gladly tries to ignore due process. He seeks to skew elections so that his party
never loses. If he deploys a presidency like
Stalin’s regime, does that mean Trump can be called a communist?
Nobody calls Trump a communist, because communism is
understood as a left-wing political theory that favors a powerful government,
while Trump is a conservative who opposes big government.
In practice, the Soviet Union was a right-wing dictatorship,
as Vladimir Putin, Stalin’s latest successor as Russia’s leader, now reveals. Stripping away the mythology, Soviet
Communism was as conservative and authoritarian as most dictatorships. The false ideology aside, the difference
between Stalin’s rule and Trump’s is a matter of degree, not intent.
Trump freely asserts that Democrats are communists. This is remarkably unfair, like calling Trump
a Nazi. He aims to link his political
opponents, for whom he shows no respect, with an international conspiracy that has
threatened the U.S. Some of his followers
take him seriously.
Trump distorts the political label used by Vermont Sen.
Bernie Sanders – Democratic Socialist. Sanders’s
allies have begun to win elections, notably Zohran Mamdani’s successful run for
New York City mayor. Trump broad
brushes all Democrats as Democratic Socialists and Democratic Socialists as
communists, the enemy.
America’s Democratic Socialists aren’t communists. They are in the progressive wing of the Democratic
Party, roughly equivalent to right-wing MAGA Republicans. Neither is the branch of foreign enemy. Each probably believes itself to be loyally American,
while charging the other side is not.
It’s often said that the U.S. is divided. Division is caused by divisiveness, sometimes
becoming “weaponization.” The opposition
is described in harshly negative terms to turn opinion against it. The nature of politics is mostly about getting
voters to reject the opposition because of its faults, true or false, rather than
convincing them to support your side.
Pundits point out that American politics has always involved
mudslinging, so today’s divisiveness should not be taken as unusual. This “two-wrongs-make-a-right” justification
winks at actions that might otherwise be rejected if they stood alone. Besides, it’s historically wrong.
The Civil War was the most divisive time in U.S. history. Neither President Abraham Lincoln nor rebel leader
Jefferson Davis regularly used the same kind of attacks on one another as
President Trump applies to Democrats and their leaders. Lincoln wanted to preserve the possibility of
reconciliation, but Trump seeks domination.
Trump calls Democrats “godless
communists” and labelled Kamala Harris, his competitor for the presidency, as
“Comrade Kamala,” pushing the supposed communist linkage
He insults people with whom he should work, calling them “Dumocrats.” Former President Biden is “Crooked Joe.” Democrats may call Trump derogatory names as
well, but he alone is President of the United States, the chief of state,
responsible for and responsive to all Americans.
Trump’s exalted view of himself, accepted by his GOP, gives
him a free hand in running the government and using his presidency for personal
enrichment. That self-esteem leads him to
expect submission and to allow the government’s use of force.
People want to enjoy freedom from fear. The American system has gradually given people
a greater sense of security, with the government’s use of force becoming less
likely. Members of previously endangered
minorities have been able to gain more equality and enhanced roles. Trump now retracts their progress as having
been a mistaken gift of the historical majority.
Under Trump, fear has been increasing and seems to be a tool
to gain his goals. The killing of two
innocent white demonstrators in Minneapolis increased national uneasiness, as
have his undisciplined and harmful references to Africans, Muslims, and women.
Governments holds the most physical power and can instill
fear to induce acceptance of their demands.
When an arbitrary regime strips people of due process of law, its threat
becomes menace, and menace produces obedience.
Both Trump now and Stalin decades ago have used the enormous
power of government to force compliance with their individual will. Trump is not a communist, but neither was
Stalin. Both qualify as authoritarians, flaunting
their power and promoting their greater glory, no matter what the cost.
