United States President Donald Trump has leaned into his latest political attack line, decrying 'godless communists' who will 'attack all Religions but, in particular, Christianity'.
The statements on Friday, made on his Truth Social account and during a meeting of the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition, came days after progressive candidates backed by New York City's democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani took home major victories in New York.
Trump did not directly name any candidates, making only a glancing reference to 'the recent Election of Communists in our Country'. He then unleashed a litany of far-flung claims and derisions: 'Assassinations of those who oppose them is a very important element of their Ideology'; 'These ruthless Communists will attack all Religions but, in particular, Christianity – They always do'; 'They’re animals!'.
'These are not social Dumocrats [Democrats],' Trump wrote. 'These are hard core, godless Communists.' 'This is the Greatest Threat to our Country since its Founding 250 years ago!' he added.
Trump has repeatedly used outlandish rhetoric throughout his political career, for example, regularly decrying Democrats as 'radical left lunatics' and claiming in 2024, without evidence, that Haitians living in the US were 'eating pets'.
No self-identifying communists are currently running on the Democratic ticket ahead of the midterms, and there are no communists currently in elected office. Instead, Mamdani and the two candidates he backs, New York Democratic primary winners Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Chris Rabb, a state representative who won a Democratic congressional primary race in Pennsylvania, is also a member.
Democratic socialism and communism differ markedly in how adherents seek to achieve their broader goals. Democratic socialists support achieving their aims through electoral politics. Communists, at least in countries where the ideology has been put into practice, have eschewed democracy in exchange for an all-controlling state apparatus.
Counter to Trump’s claims, democratic socialists and the DSA in particular are not opposed to religion. Mamdani, Tlaib and Avila Chevalier are Muslims, while Ocasio-Cortez identifies as Catholic. The DSA’s Religion and Socialism group states on its website: 'There is a long tradition of religious socialism in the United States that has been ignored or forgotten.'
There are currently two members of the DSA in Congress: Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib. Senator Bernie Sanders hews closely to democratic socialism but is not a DSA member. Prior to his mayoral election victory in November, Trump had also falsely called Mamdani a 'communist'.
The latest line of attack comes as Trump’s Republican party braces for a potentially punishing midterm election, with the president’s approval rating dipping to an all-time low amid persistent cost-of-living concerns. Trump and his allies have identified the leftward lurch in the Democratic Party as a weakness heading into November and sought to drum up support among the religious, predominantly Christian, conservative base.
Source: www.aljazeera.com