The Red Scare Revival: Trump's Misguided Crusade Against Democratic Socialism The recent surge in democratic socialist candidates winning primary elections has sent shockwaves through the Republican Party, prompting President Donald Trump to revive a tired trope from the Cold War era: the Red Scare.
By conflating democratic socialism with communism, Trump is attempting to tap into America's lingering fears of Soviet style authoritarianism. The history of communism in the United States is complex and multifaceted.
Founded in 1919 by radical leftists inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution, the American Communist Party grew rapidly during the Great Depression as people became disillusioned with capitalism's failures.