US President Donald Trump has taken the latest political attack line, slamming “Godless communists” who “attack all religions, but especially Christianity.”
Friday’s comments, made on his Truth social account and at a meeting of the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition, came days after a progressive candidate backed by New York City’s Democratic Socialist Mayor Zoran Mamdani won a landslide victory in New York.
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President Trump did not directly name the candidates, only making a passing reference to “the recent election of communists in our country.”
Then he launched into a litany of far-flung claims and ridicule. “The assassination of those who oppose them is a very important element of their ideology.” “These ruthless communists will attack all religions, but especially Christianity. They always do that.” “They are animals!”
“They are not social democrats,” Trump wrote. “They are hardcore, godless communists.”
“This is the greatest threat to our country since its founding 250 years ago!” he added.
Trump has repeatedly used bizarre rhetoric throughout his political career, including regularly denouncing Democrats as “far-left lunatics” and claiming in 2024, without evidence, that Haitians living in the United States were “eating pets.”
There are currently no self-identified communists running for the Democratic Party ahead of the midterm elections, and no communists currently holding elected office.
Instead, Mamdani and the two candidates he supports, New York Democratic primary winners Daliaza Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). State Rep. Chris Love, who won Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary to represent an all-blue district, is also a member of the organization.
Although somewhat amorphous in definition, democratic socialism and communism differ significantly in how their proponents seek to achieve the broader goals of a more equitable redistribution of wealth and greater public control over government services.
Democratic socialists support achieving their goals through electoral politics. Communists, at least in countries where this ideology is practiced, have eschewed democracy in exchange for an all-controlling state apparatus.
Contrary to Trump’s claims, Democratic Socialists, especially the DSA, are not opposed to religion either. Mamdani, Tlaib and Avila Chevalier are Muslims, while Ocasio-Cortez identifies as Catholic.
“There is a long tradition of religious socialism in the United States that has been ignored or forgotten,” DSA’s religious socialist group says on its website. The group added that it “refuses to cede the foundations of our faith to the religious right.”
There are currently two DSA members in Congress: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. A few other members of Congress and Democratic candidates, most notably Sen. Bernie Sanders, were loyal to democratic socialism but were not members of DSA.
Even before winning the mayoral race last November, Trump incorrectly called Mamdani a “communist.”
change of perspective
The attack comes as President Donald Trump’s Republican Party prepares for a tough midterm election, with the president’s approval rating at an all-time low amid lingering concerns about the cost of living.
Mr. Trump and his allies point to the leftward shift within the Democratic Party as a weakness heading into November. They have also sought to garner support among religious and conservative groups, who are majority Christian.
It remains unclear whether this strategy will be effective.
The label “socialist” has been deeply stigmatized in the United States throughout the Cold War, but public opinion polls show support for capitalism is declining and support for socialism is increasing.
A Gallup poll last year found that the number of Americans who have a positive view of capitalism has declined from 61% in 2010 to 54% in 2025. Meanwhile, positive views of socialism rose from 36% to 39% over this period.
For Democrats in particular, opinions on socialism increased significantly. In 2010, 50 percent of Democrats had a positive view of socialism. In 2025, that percentage increased to 66%.
