#red scare

Set against the backdrop of the granite faces of four of his predecessors*, Mr. Trump said Friday night that American identity was under attack from communist ideals, taking aim at what he called "radicals" and "extremists" who attack American history. "There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success," the president said. "You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both." "You do not have to be born here, but you do have to love what we have built, you must love our country," Mr. Trump told the crowd in South Dakota. After speaking about the dangers of communism, the president said the only way to ensure that the Republicans win the midterm elections is by abolishing the filibuster and passing the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to prove they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote, and showing a valid photo identification before they cast their ballots. "As we march into our 250th year, incredible, beautiful year it will be, we must never forget: There is no American freedom without American culture, and there is no American founding without the American people," Mr Trump said.

Lee Moran at HuffPost:

Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are currently doubling down on one particular line of attack against their political rivals right now, branding them “communists.” And authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University and the author of “Strongman: Mussolini to the Present,” explained how and why “communists” has become the latest bogeyman for Trump and Republicans in a series of posts on X on Wednesday. t’s the “new MAGA propaganda theme,” she declared in one post. It’s “not subtle,” she added in another, sharing footage of Trump claiming that “communists” are trying to blow up Mount Rushmore. “The new party line is to associate Communists with every crime, every offense. Create a sense of Communist threat to justify a right-wing crackdown. Old playbook used with coups and Fascist takeovers,” she added. In a third post, Ben-Ghiat urged people to track the recent difference in messaging and the rise to prominence of the slur. “Goal is likely to justify a crackdown for “national security” reasons, conveniently staged just before the midterms,” she warned.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat explains the GOP’s use of red-baiting by labeling political opponents as “communists” to justify crackdowns on left-leaning groups in the name of “national security.”

See Also:

Republican Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith, was one of the few who possessed the courage to stand up to McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee.

She did so in a scathing speech from the senate floor in which she said that the Senate had "...been debased to...a forum of hate and character assassination."

She beseeched her fellow Republicans not to seek political victory by riding the “Four Horsemen of Calumny–Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”