If Democratic Socialists really aren’t communist, then they should have no problem condemning communism. So why won’t they?
President Trump condemned communism during his Salute to America 250 Fourth of July celebration speech. The Democratic Socialists’ inability to do the same is telling.
After rain and lightning delays, Trump made his speech on the National Mall late Saturday night, honoring veterans in front of historically significant American flags. He also called out communism by name, declaring that our “American identity” is “under a renewed attack” and that “these are not mere political disagreements.”
“It is the greatest threat to our country, including WWI, WWII, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11,” and it “is the exact opposite of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil,” he said. “We will not let them win.”
It is no secret that the speech was directed toward Democratic Socialists. In response to a question regarding Democratic Socialists of America ideology, Trump said, “It’s not socialism–it’s really communism. They use the words ‘social Democrat’ because it sounds so nice, but it’s really communism you’re talking about.”
The condemnation comes amid the rise of socialist and communist sentiment among young people and after a string of Democratic Socialist primary election wins across the country (Melat Kiros in Colorado, Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York City, and Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania, to name a few).
Whether the policies of these candidates and government officials are actually communist (they are) is a conversation for another day. What’s more telling is the refusal of Democratic Socialist candidates to denounce communism and refute Trump’s claims once and for all.
NYC’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani and congressional candidate Chevalier deny the communist epithet, but neither has actively condemned communism as an ideology. In fact, in recent tweets uncovered by CNN, Chevalier expresses explicitly communist sentiments such as “seize the means of production” and calls to abolish police, prisons, and borders. After Trump accused her specifically of being a communist, she told MS NOW, “I won’t be reactive,” then later said, “I am not a communist.” The tweets say otherwise.
Saying you aren’t a communist and denouncing communist ideology as a whole so as not to be associated with it are two different things. If Democratic Socialists consider the accusation of “communist” to be a “bad faith” argument, then condemn it. Rather than proving to voters that Trump is wrong in his assessment, all the candidates have done is relabel themselves as “Socialist Democrats” and demand that people refer to them as such. I am unconvinced.
A column in USA Today claims that this type of rhetoric from Trump is typical of his fearmongering tactics, but the author forgets to mention that communism is, in fact, something to fear. Communism kills. It has killed over 100 million people and impoverished and dehumanized even more. It is fundamentally opposed to every aspect of American ideals.
If Democratic Socialists are offended by Trump’s attacks on communism, that tells you all you need to know about their beliefs. If they correct his label for their policies rather than prove to voters that their policies don’t warrant such an attack, well, that also tells you something. And if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and makes policies that a duck would make, it’s probably a duck, even if that duck assures you that it’s just a socialist.