Why the right can't stop talking about communism
There’s been a lot of “communist” talk on the midterms campaign trail. It’s become Trump’s favorite new perceived threat coming from the left. But it’s actually not new at all.US politicians, especially on the right, have long described communism as a threat to the American way of life. As a result, the United States has undergone historical periods of intense and occasionally violent means to suppress the spread of communism. Beyond the clash between capitalism and communism as economic systems, a line is often drawn between communist ideology and religion in America, specifically Christianity.
In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower added the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, doubling down on the Christian values of an anti-communist America. The phrase “In God We Trust” was also added to US currency. As evangelical Christians grew into a crucial voting bloc for the Republican party, communist accusations against the left have appeared now and again to mobilize the base.
Hosted by Kahlil Greene, this video is part of our new series Kahlil Explains that unites Vox’s unique brand of explainer journalism with Greene’s expertise in how politics and culture shape society. This episode traces the history of communism in America and its clash with religious groups to unpack why Democratic candidates are being labeled communists and whether the strategy will resonate with voters today.
Read more about communism and religion in America:
Andrew Hartman’s book Karl Marx in America: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/K/bo245100866.html
Vox’s Today, Explained covers Trump's imaginary Red Scare: https://www.vox.com/podcasts/498360/trump-democratic-socialists-communism-red-scare
Politico’s coverage of anti-communism rhetoric at the 2026 Republican midterm convention: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/09/a-communist-caucus-trump-gives-republicans-their-midterms-enemy-01070254
Insights from the Public Religion Research Institute’s American values atlas: https://prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/PRRI-Feb-2026-CN-in-50-states.pdf
An article from The Atlantic’s archive titled Ideology: The Christian Anti-Communism Crusade: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1974/06/ideology-the-christian-anti-communism-crusade/663345/
Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.
Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE
Follow Vox on Facebook: http://goo.gl/U2g06o
Or Twitter: http://goo.gl/XFrZ5H Receive SMS online on sms24.me
TubeReader video aggregator is a website that collects and organizes online videos from the YouTube source. Video aggregation is done for different purposes, and TubeReader take different approaches to achieve their purpose.
Our try to collect videos of high quality or interest for visitors to view; the collection may be made by editors or may be based on community votes.
Another method is to base the collection on those videos most viewed, either at the aggregator site or at various popular video hosting sites.
TubeReader site exists to allow users to collect their own sets of videos, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others; TubeReader can develop online communities around video sharing.
Our site allow users to create a personalized video playlist, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others.
@YouTubeReaderBot allows you to subscribe to Youtube channels.
By using @YouTubeReaderBot Bot you agree with YouTube Terms of Service.
Use the @YouTubeReaderBot telegram bot to be the first to be notified when new videos are released on your favorite channels.
Look for new videos or channels and share them with your friends.
You can start using our bot from this video, subscribe now to Why the right can't stop talking about communism
What is YouTube?
YouTube is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch online videos. You can even create and upload your own videos to share with others. Originally created in 2005, YouTube is now one of the most popular sites on the Web, with visitors watching around 6 billion hours of video every month.
