Commynists!
By Donald Trump has decided that calling Democrats Communists is the next move. It may be spreading to other Republicans..
It’s in line with his having Roy Cohn, ally of Senator Joseph McCarthy, as a mentor. But that was a long time ago.
The bad word in this category that Republicans have used more recently has been “Socialist,” although it hasn’t had much of a workout. “Trans for everyone” has been much more popular.
The culture wars have shifted from ideology to gender. If you accuse someone of being a socialist, you might get something like this:
So it’s safer to accuse people of gender transgressions.
It may just be because I’m old, but the word “communist” tumbling out of Trump’s mouth sounds dated. Communism’s brand was severly damaged in 1991, when its most vocal supporting state collapsed. China is still nominally Communist, but they’ve taken things in a different direction, where they can hardly be accused of economic failure. Plus they’re not as vocal about that label.
Probably half of the US population was born after Cohn died in 1986, and probably most of the oldies have forgotten or never heard of him. Likewise the slur of communism..
Younger people are likely to see capitalism as what’s keeping them from buying a house or living the life they want – it’s the preference of the greedy rich. So they may be ready for something else, and the words may not sound so bad to them.