Letter to the editor: The second time as farce

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 07.23.26

In 1950, Republican senator Joe McCarthy claimed, “I have in my hand a list” of communists in government. McCarthy expanded his baseless accusations until some 10,000 law-abiding Americans were blacklisted, including actor Orson Welles, playwright Arthur Miller and composer Aaron Copland. “McCarthyism” became a synonym for unsubstantiated smears. McCarthy was censured by the Senate, spent his last years in disgrace, and died of alcoholism at age 48.

In recent polling, nearly 80% expect the Iran War to drag on, with Trump’s approval rating plummeting to 30%, which is his lowest ever. Democrats are favored to win in November. Trump’s response? McCarthyism 2.0.

Without a shred of evidence, Trump smeared Democrats as “hardcore, godless communists,” which he called “a mortal threat to American liberty.” Ironically, Trump treats actual, card-carrying communists as bosom buddies, and communism itself as a joke.

We lost 58,220 Americans trying to bring democracy to Vietnam. Trump called communist Vietnam “one of the great miracles of the world.”

We lost 36,574 Americans fighting communist China and North Korea in the Korean War. Trump called China’s Xi Jinping a “brilliant leader” and “great man.” At their May 2026 Summit, Trump gushed, “It’s an honor to be your friend.”

Trump is even more fond of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who he also called a “great leader,” adding, “We fell in love. No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters. We fell in love.”

Karl Marx, the father of communism, observed that “History repeats itself: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”

Nothing is more farcical than being smeared as a communist by Trump — who praises Vietnamese communism, is honored to be Xi’s friend, and boasts of his love affair with Kim Jong Un.

After the NATO summit, Trump joked: “I would be the greatest communist in history. I’d be right up there with Lenin.” No one who seriously thinks communism is “the greatest threat to our country” in 2026 would joke about it.

Linda McConnell Baker

Leland