Trump Brands His Opponents As 'communists,' A Label Loaded With The Baggage Of American History

For years, President Donald Trump blamed "communists" for his legal and political troubles. Now, the second Trump administration is deploying that same historically loaded label to cast his opponents - from judges to educators - as threats to American identity, culture and values.

Why? Trump himself explained the strategy last year when he described how he planned to defeat his Democratic opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in the White House election.

"All we have to do is define our opponent as being a communist or a socialist or somebody who is going to destroy our country," he told reporters at his New Jersey golf club in August.

Trump did just that - branding Harris "comrade Kamala" - and he won in November. With the assent of more than 77 million Americans who cast ballots - 49.9 of the vote - Trump is carrying that strategy into his second term.

What he's talking about is not actually 'communism'