Donald Trump and his allies have adopted a new propaganda theme, frequently labeling political rivals as "communists," according to Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University and an expert on authoritarianism.
In a series of posts on the social media platform X, Ben-Ghiat described this strategy as "the new MAGA propaganda theme" and noted its lack of subtlety. She highlighted instances where Trump has used the label, including a claim that "communists" were attempting 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," Ben-Ghiat stated. She suggested that the goal is to "justify a crackdown for 'national security' reasons, conveniently staged just before the midterms."
Ben-Ghiat pointed to the repetition of the message as a key element of propaganda. She commented on statements from figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who asserted that the U.S. "doesn’t want to be a communist country," and from House Republicans with messages like "WE WILL STOP COMMUNISM."
"Propaganda is about repetition," Ben-Ghiat wrote. "The group you want to smear must be mentioned negatively over and over again. When you are conjuring a largely imaginary enemy, you must redouble your efforts. That’s what is happening here."