Trump’s Anti-Socialist Rhetoric. Election Politics. Misrepresenting Socialists as “Godless Communists”

In case you had not noticed, looming over the recent 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was the somber shadow of an underwhelming event with the country’s subtle awareness that it was in the midst of a historic, political decline. 

At a time when the 250th Anniversary should have restored a national pride as the country reached a historic milestone, there was a perception that the country was in a fast decline with an ambivalent, ineffectual Congress predominately fulfilling Israel’s expectations, a Congress more committed to benefiting its own financial well being than providing a balanced Federal budget.

In what should have been a celebration of the country’s achievement over the last 250 years instead became focused on a polarizing, political pageantry centered on the President ‘s 80th birthday transforming the White House into his own private national UFC  boxing ring on the south lawn, directly in front of the White House; diverting further attention as the 2026 FIFA World Cup geared up.

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In the aftermath of House adoption of Section 219 in the NDAA (HR 8800) and as the President’s approval polls continue to sink, there is a disturbing strategy unfolding as supporters of the US-Israel merger attempt to convince American voters that Democrats or its leftish supporters are the new ‘terrorists’ to oppose thereby influencing voters to elect the GOP.

Upon the June 23rd NYC primary election, Trump offered a typically derogatory critique to an unexpected primary victory when three NYC Democratic Socialist candidates won their primary election defeating two House incumbents. 

That victory signaled a dramatic shift not only in Democratic politics but among a wide swath of American voters. Those NYC elections were followed by a fourth win in Denver with defeat of a 30-year incumbent; all campaigns were primarily focused on US-Israel relationship.   

Within days of the primary, while attending the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference uniting evangelical voters with Tea Party philosophy, Trump shocked his audience with a magnified alarm that ‘Godless communists will turn cities into slums.’   

Reiterating a string of exaggerated irrational judgements with no basis in fact, he continued,

“They’re after Christianity more than any other religion. I’m saving Christians throughout the world. They go into a village and just kill everybody. The greatest threat in our 250 year history.”   

The President persisted in talking fiction as if facts; as if Presidential word needed no historical context.

Further asserting that Socialists are “not social democrats; they are hard core godless communists.”

“This is the most serious threat to our country since its existence. They are a major threat to our country,” he said and praised the assassination of Iranian General Solemeini as “a sick man mentally” who was on his way to a peace conference in Baghdad. Trump continued a fictional account of events to fit his own political strategy.      

At a July 3 event at Mount Rushmore, the President continued with “communism is a mortal threat to American liberty” citing WW I, WW II, Pearl Harbor and 911. Increasingly obsessed, Trump continued promising “America will never be a communist country” in what used to be called ‘red-baiting.’

President Trump has lost sight of Sen. Bernie Sanders (NY) and Rep. AOC (NY) as other Members of Congress who may not identity as Democratic Socialists who nevertheless follow those principles; none of whom have shown any indication of threatening a political coup to overthrow the Federal government.

Trump continued to misrepresent Socialists as “newcomers totally opposed to our way of life’ as ‘thieves, radical and lunatics’ and, in his confusion warned of ‘a resurgence of the Communist menace.” ‘We are not going to allow this to happen’ threatening “they will vanish quickly” to be sent “quickly away in exile” assigning empty threats to ‘terrorists.’

In the early 20th Century, ‘communism’ became a pejorative for un-American left-wing politics and associated with Russian communism, ultimately totalitarian repression lacking the security of a Constitutional Republic.   

Trump’s repeated characterization to communism may be rooted to his close association with well-known mobster Roy Cohn who represented Trump during 1973 DOJ allegations regarding Fair Housing Act violations. Cohn went on to transform a fear-mongering obsession into a national anti-communist campaign.

By the 1980’s the Cohn-Trump relationship evolved into a mentor/fixer – personal friendship at about the same time Trump encountered financier Jeffrey Epstein through NYC and Florida elite social circles. It may be that Cohn presumably taught Trump the finer points of how to function as the 47th President.

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On July 15, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the formation of the ominously named “Ministerial to Combat the Resurgence of Political Terrorism” which will ‘focus on this renewed threat to our societies and encourage stronger joint action to reinforce frontline defenses and close the gaps the terrorist actors continue to exploit.” Rubio confirmed the “United States taking a leading role in countering far-left terrorism.”

Rubio further declared his own set of facts without any details raising recollections of 911 that

Far-left political terrorism is resurgent, manifesting in violent terrorist acts across the Western Hemisphere. These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a deliberate, ideologically motivated strategy to destabilize free societies by violently targeting our political and economic systems, including attacks against private citizens, government officials, police and law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure around the globe. … this threat has remained a blind spot in the international community’s counterterrorism focus, underestimated and under-resourced, despite the danger it poses.

In a transparent attempt to influence the mid term elections, the Trump Administration has focused on reinventing the US misaligned War on Terror which, they hope, may be useful to challenge the reelection of Democrats as agents of violence in our deeply troubled society.

As the mid terms approach, the alleged Ministerial is little more than a blatant election scam meant to distract American voters from Trump’s failing approval polls which have been locked in the range of 35% for the last three months; with a 60% plus disapproval indicative of pessimism among American voters.

The decline in polls creates sufficient political pressure that persuades the President to ‘prove’ that his presidency is still vital and essential, that the polls are no reflection on his ability to lead or be a ‘winner.’   

Sinking polls act as a counterbalance to encourage a heightened response to offset any negative sense that the President’s erratic behavior or a lack of purpose or absence of strategic thinking can be offset by a $1.5 Trillion budget when the ‘greatest military in the world’ cannot achieve supremacy over the Houthis.

Rubio continued that the

United States doesn’t want to be a communist country, and we’re never going to be a communist country. Our system doesn’t want communism. We’re certainly not going to allow communist efforts to undermine American society and drive wedges into our country.

In addition, Stephen Miller, Trump’s irascible deputy chief of staff, joined the fray by referring to the Democratic Party a “domestic extremist organization” last month on Fox News.

At around the same time, House Speaker Mike Johnson gave a  Barbarians are at the Gate’ Speech to the GOP caucus in a display of anxiety following the President’s anti-communist harangues.   

Speaker Johnson added inexplicably 

“We are fighting right now in Congress over whether we’re going to maintain our status as a constitutional republic OR trade that in, dismantle the foundations and GO DOWN THIS DARK ROAD OF DEATH TO COMMUNISM.”  

Where did this sudden agitation come from?

Speaker Johnson went on to make the shocking assertion that “We’re fighting communism on our own shores” neglecting to inform where the Communist threat exists. Was he referring to the newly elected Democratic Socialists who do not take office until 2027 and refused to speculate how they are such a threat.

“The Marxists have nominated some of the most radical candidates to ever run for office, and they’re running for Congress,” he continued. “The insurgent left is on the rise.”

In a panic, Speaker Johnson identified himself as a Constitutional law attorney acknowledging that “everything is at stake right now.”

In any case, the President and Speaker are revealing how vulnerable the country’s political establishment is to brazen newcomers who dare challenge, by their mere presence, political primacy over the legislative agenda or its administrative electoral process.

The truth is that the Trump Administration has rarely shown a commitment to the US Constitution or  international law given its penchant initiating illegal wars, deepening authoritarianism at home, illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, illegal airstrikes on Venezuelan fishermen in international waters, the proposed illegal invasion of Cuba or unconstitutional arrests of student protestors demonstrating against the genocide in Gaza and more committed to Zionism than to American democracy.

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For the record, I have been a Democrat in the past and am currently a GOP voter; although being an Independent voter is more appealing.

Renee Parsons has been a member of the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC. She can be found on X @reneedove31. Read other articles by Renee.