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Can someone please tell me why he keeps using the word "communism" (Original Post) vapor2 Friday OP
It's a boogie man Mz Pip Friday #1
Because that's the label they intend to apply to Democrats. That's their idiotic strategy for the midterms. highplainsdem Friday #2
Honestly, when did they stop applying it to Democrats? Maru Kitteh Friday #9
His followers don't know the meaning of any big words. Whyisthisstillclose Friday #3
Maybe they've discovered a whole new thrill. calimary Saturday #28
It's a right-wing scare word (or it used to be, a few decades ago). He doesn't know what it is, Ocelot II Friday #4
Apparently, we are now communists when we question a 34X convicted criminal President. OAITW r.2.0 Friday #5
Replaces Sleepy Joe Biden and Barack Obama Endlessmike56 Friday #6
Because we finally got through to the low info people how important roads and fire departments and social security is. Iggo Friday #7
Some people associate communism with LilElf70 Friday #8
A liberal democracy that socializes segments like healthcare is still a liberal democracy. pat_k Saturday #22
thanks for your replies but threw me for a minute vapor2 Friday #10
they are rolling out the new theme, fox was using it earlier. its pretty corny at this point Blues Heron Friday #11
Bogeyman of the demented degenerates who watch FUX. RockRaven Saturday #12
So communism BAD but Putin GOOD. I'm confused. It can't be easy being a Deplorable NoMoreRepugs Saturday #13
Communism is defined by F-cks News. usonian Saturday #15
Putin and today's Russia are not communist or socialist. yardwork Saturday #35
Putin isn't a Communist. ColoringFool Saturday #39
Magats have no connection between words and meaning or fact. Words are weapons. usonian Saturday #14
Because when somebody calls themselves Boo1 Saturday #16
2nd grade smear campaign moondust Saturday #17
It was the only word dweller Saturday #18
He is a big fan of Roy Cohn, and Cohn made his mark as wingman for Tailgunner Joe McCarthy's commie hunt. Midnight Writer Saturday #19
communist is a nebulously defined boogie man rampartd Saturday #20
"When all else fails..." regnaD kciN Saturday #21
because it works on his brain-dead base Skittles Saturday #23
Black and white thinking is a sign of a lack of multigraincracker Saturday #24
Election 2028, Battle of the "c" words: Democrats called "commies" from one direction, "centrists" from another. betsuni Saturday #25
Because no one is stopping him LeftInTX Saturday #26
Trying to scare people again LisaL Saturday #27
MAGA doesn't understand a lot. Dunc Saturday #29
Because someone told him to. mahina Saturday #30
Because it worked for four of his greatest idols DFW Saturday #31
Because he's mispronouncing constipation and nobody dares to correct him. littlemissmartypants Saturday #32
Either because he thinks it's 1950 or thinks he's Joe McCarthy Deminpenn Saturday #33
It's the same playbook malaise Saturday #34
Same reason he says he never raped underage girls maxrandb Saturday #36
In his youth, they were the ultimate bad guys ms liberty Saturday #37
It worked for his mentor. orthoclad Saturday #38
I think he is conflating Socialist with Communist. IL Dem Saturday #40
Trump didn't get the 2008 upgrade. DiamondShark Saturday #41
Fascists have always been mainly concerned with opposing communism. David__77 Saturday #42
True but do you remember Liberation Theology malaise Saturday #43
This is part of a pattern LetMyPeopleVote Monday #44
"Communism is everything we don't like" durablend Monday #45
"Communism" is, on the ideological level, what "woke" is on the social level. A cheap, meaningless buzzword Aristus Monday #46
It's just this month's attempted Word of Fear Torchlight Monday #47
I think the right wing media, Fox news?, podcasters having been calling democrats cksmithy Monday #48
3 big reasons GreatGazoo Monday #49
It was the word of the week selected by his staff sarisataka Monday #50
It's got three syllables Turbineguy Monday #51
Same reason we say fascist and fascism every 5 minutes. So it sticks, and becomes part of the conversation.. OC375 Monday #52
Democrats have won a string of off year elections creeksneakers2 Monday #53
Because he's an IDIOT, and.... some_of_us_are_sane Monday #54
We are the Democratic Party, we are not the communist party. LeftInTX Monday #55
I believe he is posturing in case the midterm election is going poorly for republicans. GoodRaisin Monday #56
He's appealing to the older members of his base. hamsterjill Monday #57
Because he knows his cult scares easily. nt City Lights Monday #58

highplainsdem

(63,912 posts)
2. Because that's the label they intend to apply to Democrats. That's their idiotic strategy for the midterms.
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:37 PM
Friday

Maru Kitteh

(32,154 posts)
9. Honestly, when did they stop applying it to Democrats?
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:57 PM
Friday

He just thinks communist! (instead of socialist) is somehow turning it up to 11.

Because he’s old, and his worldview cast itself in cement when the nanny parked his ass in front of the TV in the 1950’s & early 60’s.

3. His followers don't know the meaning of any big words.
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:40 PM
Friday

They've heard Communism more than Socialism. So close enough for them. Morons.

calimary

(91,668 posts)
28. Maybe they've discovered a whole new thrill.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 04:41 AM
Saturday

Or a new word! Communism! Uh-oh…

Beware! Take care! Keep yer dogs in yer yards!

Ocelot II

(131,983 posts)
4. It's a right-wing scare word (or it used to be, a few decades ago). He doesn't know what it is,
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:40 PM
Friday

but neither does MAGA, so he trots it out as if it were still 1956 and Nikita Khrushchev had just announced that the Soviet Union would "bury" us. He has no new material.

OAITW r.2.0

(33,043 posts)
5. Apparently, we are now communists when we question a 34X convicted criminal President.
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:41 PM
Friday

Who's an abjugated sexual assaulter who won't release the 50% of the Epstein files that prove his pedo-crimes but also show how Trump laundered pilfered Russian assets in the 2000s.

Iggo

(50,176 posts)
7. Because we finally got through to the low info people how important roads and fire departments and social security is.
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:53 PM
Friday

We successfully blunted the “socialist” slur, so now they have reverted to the “communist” bullshit.

LilElf70

(1,757 posts)
8. Some people associate communism with
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:57 PM
Friday

something bad. Ya now - Putin land.

And Donny knows that if you keep saying the same thing over and over, no matter how big the lie, people will start to believe it.

Socialism has come a long way since it was first associated with communism, which was over a century ago.

Just look around at all the social ideas that have been implemented in this country over the past 100 years. All for the reason to benefit society. We've come a long way, and honestly, I like it. Social programs overall, will create a better life for everyone. My kids and grand kids should profit from a having better life than the shit hole Trump has created today. And that's the reason younger voters are voting for candidates that support social programs.

We CAN have a better life, but it's going to take a massive effort. All I ask is to "stop, look and listen" to the progressive candidates.

pat_k

(14,706 posts)
22. A liberal democracy that socializes segments like healthcare is still a liberal democracy.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:40 AM
Saturday

Essentials like healthcare aren't f-ing commodities. You don't wake up one day and think "Gee, I'd sure like to inject myself with Enbrel every week. It costs more than I make in a month, but I deserve it!!

It's pretty f-ing simple.

Making America a nation we can be proud of is all about building a government that protects our individual rights while providing the public infrastructure and services we choose to provide ourselves.

Not a difficult concept to convey in conversations, in letters to editors, or in comments in newsfeeds to challenge the phony "left" propaganda that even our allies are falling for.

We need to call bullshit on the insanity. Don't just write off the propaganda. Be clear. Call bullshit.

What the various parts of the Pro-Democracy coalition -- whether Democrats, DSA, or Independents -- are advocating are the SAME things that a majority of this nation wants -- an end to corruption in government, universal health care, and more. Hell, most of what the current fascist corporatist Republican Party of today attempt to demonize as "communist" was part of the 1956 Republican platform.

In a nutshell, what we want is at the CENTER of our politics (less than 3 minutes)



Or the longer version, what they are calling "left" is a central throughline that defines the character of this nation across our history.



vapor2

(5,213 posts)
10. thanks for your replies but threw me for a minute
Fri Jul 3, 2026, 11:58 PM
Friday

Yes, low IQ crowd may or may not have heard of this word. He is sicker than I thought and said that communists don't respect the law (ROTFLMAO)

NoMoreRepugs

(12,352 posts)
13. So communism BAD but Putin GOOD. I'm confused. It can't be easy being a Deplorable
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:03 AM
Saturday

and figuring out who to hate today.

usonian

(27,426 posts)
15. Communism is defined by F-cks News.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:07 AM
Saturday

Whatever people are trained to dislike.

His "lover boys" Xi, Putin, Kim. are pals, not evil communists.

usonian

(27,426 posts)
14. Magats have no connection between words and meaning or fact. Words are weapons.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:05 AM
Saturday

Used for effect. That's why meaning often flips.

The attack words are all manure, just of a different color.

Welfare Mother, soft on crime, war in drugs. All of those were dogwhistles for racism.

Many are pure projection. "Every accusation is a confession"

And here is the party officials' response to these attacks.




Repost of https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1322&pid=120144

Plus.

Boo1

(737 posts)
16. Because when somebody calls themselves
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:07 AM
Saturday

A socialist, most people dont know anu difference between that and communist. So that's what they are going to call them.

More reason the Democratic Socialist label is idiotic.

moondust

(21,392 posts)
17. 2nd grade smear campaign
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:08 AM
Saturday

If the big bad gubment does something for The People instead of the private sector selling that something to The People for profit...that's comyunizum!!!

dweller

(29,043 posts)
18. It was the only word
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:18 AM
Saturday

on his vocabulary list for the month .
He had to color it in red for extra credit
He pronounces it ‘ooga booga’





✌🏻

Midnight Writer

(26,070 posts)
19. He is a big fan of Roy Cohn, and Cohn made his mark as wingman for Tailgunner Joe McCarthy's commie hunt.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:25 AM
Saturday

Cohn had the whole nation checking under their beds for commies in the 1950s.

Trump would like to gin up some of that good old-fashioned Red Scare.

rampartd

(5,787 posts)
20. communist is a nebulously defined boogie man
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:25 AM
Saturday

if there are a thousand "card carrying" communists in the usa i'd be shocked.

but his cult are religiously preconditioned to KILL commies.

if he paints us red
we'll soon be dead.

the real answer is a twofer= anti cuba propaganda + boogie man.

as liberal commies we are giving aid and comfort to the cuban "totalitarians" and so on.

note on cold war propaganda.

the cold war propaganda focused on the midnight raids, the gulags, the show trials and the firing squads. you know, the things trump loves about russia.

no one in the cold war era cared who owned the "means of production," the soviets were outside the rule of law.

any of their purported difference between "authoritarian" and "totalitarian" seems to have blurred as well.

one last note : trade union organizers are, to republicans, communists in their purest form.

regnaD kciN

(27,767 posts)
21. "When all else fails..."
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 12:37 AM
Saturday

“Socialism” apparently doesn’t scare enough people anymore.

Skittles

(173,895 posts)
23. because it works on his brain-dead base
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 02:22 AM
Saturday

even though most of them couldn't define communism if their lives depended on it

betsuni

(29,525 posts)
25. Election 2028, Battle of the "c" words: Democrats called "commies" from one direction, "centrists" from another.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 04:17 AM
Saturday

Dunc

(596 posts)
29. MAGA doesn't understand a lot.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 04:58 AM
Saturday

And they do not understand the difference between capitalism, communism or socialism.

DFW

(60,922 posts)
31. Because it worked for four of his greatest idols
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 06:30 AM
Saturday

Sen. Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew and Sheriff Buford T. Justice.

malaise

(300,010 posts)
34. It's the same playbook
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 07:29 AM
Saturday

the US government and its CIA used in dozens of countries to destroy progressive movements and steal land and resources.
Wake up people.

maxrandb

(17,579 posts)
36. Same reason he says he never raped underage girls
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 09:43 AM
Saturday

"If you tell a lie often enough, it becomes believable."

You can fool some of the people all of the time. You can fool all of the people some of the time, but....

He's trying to fool all of the people all of the time. The press helps him.

ms liberty

(11,482 posts)
37. In his youth, they were the ultimate bad guys
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 10:16 AM
Saturday

Perseverating about communists is a new thing for him, but I suspect he's been reminded about them recently.

IL Dem

(896 posts)
40. I think he is conflating Socialist with Communist.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 11:15 AM
Saturday

Democratic Socialist equals Communist. He's so stupid that he doesn't know the difference.

I'll bet he was a supporter of Joseph McCarthy back in the day.

DiamondShark

(1,168 posts)
41. Trump didn't get the 2008 upgrade.
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 01:46 PM
Saturday

We have been labeled marxist on hate radio for nearly two decades.

malaise

(300,010 posts)
43. True but do you remember Liberation Theology
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 07:46 PM
Saturday

During the Cold War, the U.S. government viewed the Latin American Liberation Theology religious movement—which advocated for the poor and systemic reform—as a Marxist threat and sought to covertly suppress it.
The prosperity gospel crowd, televangelists and Evangelical Xtians promoted all the RW BS.

Aristus

(72,810 posts)
46. "Communism" is, on the ideological level, what "woke" is on the social level. A cheap, meaningless buzzword
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 01:30 PM
Monday

intended to get the reactionary howler monkeys on the right to start screaming and flinging their shit at whatever the GOP wants them to. The less sense it makes, the better, because, as we all know, the self-proclaimed "common sense" brigade has actually none at all.

Torchlight

(7,386 posts)
47. It's just this month's attempted Word of Fear
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 01:34 PM
Monday

It feels like this is just the latest “word of fear” being cycled into political use. One month it's this term, the next it's something like Black Lives Matter or #MeToo, and later it might shift to an even more extreme label. The specific word changes, but the pattern stays the same... an ordinary term gets singled out and turned into a rhetorical weapon.

There's always some relatively neutral word or phrase that becomes the target. I don't think avoiding a word simply to prevent provoking that reaction is a good solution; it feels more like a concession than a thoughtful response. There's always going to be another word they attack.

cksmithy

(546 posts)
48. I think the right wing media, Fox news?, podcasters having been calling democrats
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 02:03 PM
Monday

Last edited Mon Jul 6, 2026, 05:13 PM - Edit history (1)

communists for over a year. My Sil's father, after an innocent "don't want our grand children to grow up to become lawyers," (no disrespect to lawyers), one liner joke by my husband, sil's father went a a multi minuet rant about how communists were ruining our state, California. California with a Democratic governor and a Democratic legislature, assembly and senate, our state was completely and totally run by communists. His rant ended with a sentiment like "not as long as communist are running Sacramento, our state capital. This happened during Thanksgiving dinner 2025.

The right wing has been spreading this bs for a long time. My sil is a liberal, but ignores his father, because he loves him. My daughter just ignores him, and when I asked her about his comment a few days later, she didn't even remember or feigned ignorance She says she never listens to him. He is 80, healthy enough, but they don't want to trigger a heart attack.

Short answer is, the has right wing has been calling Democrats communists on line for a a very long time and people are hearing it. The groundwork was laid for trump to call us communists with out any blow back from our so call main stream media.

GreatGazoo

(4,816 posts)
49. 3 big reasons
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 02:09 PM
Monday

1. Trump is RW socialist (like Hitler) who printed relief checks and signed them himself (bet his hand was sore...). He has married government funding into AI, drone companies, SpaceX, and anything else that suits him. The government owning big portions of public companies is, by definition, socialism. Not that definitions matter all that much, so ...

2. Whenever a progressive politician breaks into national consciousness, the play is the same: Define your opponent in a negative way before they have a chance to define themselves. This is most effective when that definition has some truth that can be exaggerated or highlighted to eclipse any balance or nuance.

3. The truth isn't bad enough. Not bad at all really. So they have to push to an extreme that IS bad.

sarisataka

(23,209 posts)
50. It was the word of the week selected by his staff
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 02:16 PM
Monday

They try to teach him a new word every week and encourage him to use it in a sentence often so he might remember it later.

OC375

(1,241 posts)
52. Same reason we say fascist and fascism every 5 minutes. So it sticks, and becomes part of the conversation..
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 02:37 PM
Monday

creeksneakers2

(8,132 posts)
53. Democrats have won a string of off year elections
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 03:50 PM
Monday

Even in red areas because GOP turnout has been way down because they are not motivated. Trump is hoping this will motivate his base.

some_of_us_are_sane

(3,912 posts)
54. Because he's an IDIOT, and....
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 03:56 PM
Monday
invites other idiots to follow his idiot-stench wherever it may waft....

LeftInTX

(35,143 posts)
55. We are the Democratic Party, we are not the communist party.
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 04:04 PM
Monday

The communist party and the Democratic Party are not friends!
They are another political party.
They have their own candidates. We don't want them and they don't want us!

The communist party is over there ---+ You can find them on a street corner during any protest. They have banners and signs identifying themselves. Then, they go back into hiding.

We may agree with the communists on anti-ICE policies, but we also agree with much of the GOP on data centers. But we are not the GOP. It's just that both parties seem to agree that large data centers are just not good for their communities.


We don't collaberate with rival political parties.

End of message.

GoodRaisin

(11,216 posts)
56. I believe he is posturing in case the midterm election is going poorly for republicans.
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 04:05 PM
Monday

He will attempt to shut down the elections by declaring a national emergency and martial law across the country to “save America from communism”.

hamsterjill

(18,048 posts)
57. He's appealing to the older members of his base.
Mon Jul 6, 2026, 04:14 PM
Monday

In the boomer era, the word "communism" was frightening. It was what wars were fought against, and something Americans were taught to fear.

It's calculated and intentional, and Democrats need to get out front of it and make it known that everyone see what he is doing.

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