No openly Communist Party member has ever won U.S. state or federal office, experts said, undercutting Trump’s recent claims that Democrats are becoming a "communist party" ahead of the midterms.
Scholars said even Democrats aligned with democratic socialism still back a market-based economy and do not support core communist tenets such as abolishing private property or imposing central planning.
Trump has intensified the attack after primary wins by democratic socialist candidates, while the White House defended the rhetoric and the Democratic National Committee called it a baseless midterm message.
Communist Party USA itself has only a small footprint—about 20,000 members added over several years—and its co-chair said the Democratic candidates now under scrutiny are not party members or Marxists.
Historians said the tactic fits a long U.S. tradition of branding political opponents communist without evidence, echoing McCarthy-era attacks that still shape American political rhetoric.