# Why are Democrats & those on the left suddenly Communists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 16, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729 "2026-07-16T18:16:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/41 "2026-07-17T00:21:02Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I was unaware that White people don’t ride bikes. Indeed: > **[\#61 Bicycles](https://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/61-bicycles/)** > > A good place to find white people on a Saturday is at a Bike Shop. Bike shops are almost entirely staffed and patronized by white people! But not all white people love bicycles in the same way, the… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/42 "2026-07-17T00:50:23Z")
But they’re soy-drinking Cuck-Americans. Real me drive a pickup (that’s never had anything in its bed) and could take out four bicyclists riding abreast at once. On another board we were talking about over-sized pickups in the US and one poster from Sweden had trouble grasping the size. I found an image of a Cooper Mini vs. a Ram 1500 and his reply was O… M… G… [![](https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/mini-cooper-2013-3-door-hatchback-vs-ram-1500-2018-4-door-pickup-crew-cab-5.jpg) ](https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/mini-cooper-2013-3-door-hatchback-vs-ram-1500-2018-4-door-pickup-crew-cab-5.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/43 "2026-07-17T02:46:13Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > “Drivers paying taxes and vehicle fees expect their dollars to be reinvested into our roads, not social initiatives that burden their commutes,” the statement said. “Under Secretary Duffy, the Department is getting back to basics and putting safety first.” So what’s next? Toll sidewalks? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/44 "2026-07-17T03:33:01Z")
Not even that big of a pickup truck. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/45 "2026-07-17T12:34:18Z")
FYI … That `carsized.com` website generates those images on request. You can request any two vehicles and get side, front, and back views. Kinda fun to play with. Especially if your current car barely fits in your garage. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/46 "2026-07-17T15:02:54Z")
It reminds me of Putin’s desire to root out Nazis from Ukraine. An old fear resurected. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/47 "2026-07-17T15:09:59Z")
Nobody ever asks him to define communism, or to say what policies by the Dems are the most communistic. He’d probably cough up “Green New Deal”. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/48 "2026-07-17T15:11:35Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > It’s been going on since 2015 at least, very much helping Trump to win his election in 2016, and ever since. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Ever since the Civil Rights era, liberal Democrats have always been called “pinko communists” or something to that effect. If you read Heather Cox Richardson’s work, she make it clear that this tactic goes back much, much farther than that. These same kinds of arguments were being used to disenfranchise Black voters in the post-Civil War era, when politicians riled up voters by claiming that Blacks were “socialists” who would vote to get “free money” from white people. > **[Letters from an American | Heather Cox Richardson | Substack](https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/)** > > A newsletter about the history behind today's politics. Click to read Letters from an American, by Heather Cox Richardson, a Substack publication with millions of subscribers. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/49 "2026-07-17T15:17:32Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > If you read Heather Cox Richardson’s work, she make it clear that this tactic goes back much, much farther than that Oh, that’s entirely true, of course. What’s different in the current era is the extent to which these tactics have been supercharged through use of the internet and its inherent ability to disburse propaganda with lightning speed, targeted where one chooses, by whomever wishes to employ the method. It’s a game changer, IMHO, and one we tend to overlook or minimize in this country. Same old tactics, much better new tools. Used with wild abandon by Trump and his allies. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/50 "2026-07-18T03:26:52Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I don’t know how DEI figures into it, except that Sean Duffy said so. Vehicular diversity. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/51 "2026-07-18T03:49:19Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Because Republicans have found all their other issues are not working. I expect soon we’ll hear about Communist in girl’s sports and conversions at schools. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/52 "2026-07-18T17:47:32Z")
Just wait. When Trump gets gas prices to $10 a gallon, that bicycle is gonna look pretty good. We have 3 electric bikes and solar panels. Haven’t paid a dime for electricity since we got them in January. Takes care of all of our needs. When they calculated how many solar panels we needed I said : “Add 3 more” Some of us can see the writing on the wall. Trump can barely read. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729/53 "2026-07-18T18:38:03Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > However I think a big part is that so many americans have seen what a disappointment predatory capitalism is in the US. It has led to wage stagnation, income inequality, massive bribery in politics, unaffordable housing, unaffordable healthcare, the inability to afford a family, lack of job security, billionaires buying politicians and media outlets, gig jobs replacing full time jobs with benefits, etc. When that is what you get in a ‘capitalist’ nation, alternatives start sounding better. I do not hear anyone in the US bringing up capitalism in a positive light these days. What ever benefits it has when well regulated, these bad things have become the face of it. Similarly, to address @Ludovic’s followup post: the term “liberal” for those further left has become the term used by neoliberals and moderates, those who attack anyone for being progressive. The ones who always tell us we’re going too far when we discuss the basics, the one that seems to be capitulating to the fascism of Trump or too concerned with corporate interests to actually support the people. Liberal isn’t the opposite of fascism or authorititarian for us. It’s a center to center-right group. It goes something like Leftist — Progressive — Liberal — Conservative — Alt Right/Fascist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-democrats-those-on-the-left-suddenly-communists/1031729.md?page=2)