For nearly 5 years, from February 9, 1950, thru December 2, 1954, Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy waged war on American democracy. He’d run amok, charging thousands of loyal Americans of being pro Soviet communists or simply fellow travelers. Many were fired, had their lives destroyed; some committed suicide. McCarthy was simply waging war on American democracy for personal gain, exploiting the previous 5 years of growing hysteria about an imaginary destruction of America from within by communism.
We know the bookends of McCarthy’s reign. He kicked it off February 9, 1950 at a speech before the West Virginia Republican Women’s Club when he waived a page he claimed contained the names of dozens of commies still in the Democratic government. His clarion call was harrowing: “"Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time. And, ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down—they are truly down."
The final bookend on McCarthy’s reign occurred December 2, 1954. Patriotic Senate Republicans had enough. As majority party, they introduced a resolution to censure McCarthy for bringing discredit upon the Senate. Democratic Minority Leader LBJ told his members to simply shut up and let the Republicans conduct the debate. McCarthy was so flummoxed he accused his Republican colleagues of carrying communist water. Republicans didn’t flinch. Half of the 44 voting, joined all 45 Democrats to censure McCarthy. The GOP initiative and large bipartisan vote, sealed McCarthy’s fate. This will be the McCarthy Moment history will highlight.
Sixty years after McCarthy’s demise, Donald Trump, another demagogic leader, came forward to promote, like McCarthy, an ultra-nationalist agenda of fear and loathing. Trump’s war on American democracy began on June 16, 2015, when he glided down the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his 2016 presidential candidacy.
Unlike McCarthy, Trump achieved the pinnacle of power in the presidency. During his term he bashed any group or nation that found favor with his base of disaffected voters. But his massive 7 million vote defeat in 2020 set the stage for the unthinkable: Trump’s inspired, organized and implemented insurrection at the Capitol to overturn his defeat.
Tho it failed, Trump spent the next 22 months planning his return to the White House in 2 years. On November 15, Trump announced his candidacy to run in 2024. He spent an hour explaining how he’s the victim, not the perpetrator of an assault on democracy.
But this time, like with McCarthy, it appears his party has grown weary of his anti-democratic chaos. Only a handful of hard-core Trump supporters in Congress have jumped on board Trump’s sinking ship. Trump even took a page from McCarthy’s blast at his Republican colleagues voting to censure him, by warning other GOP contenders not to run and threatening big trouble for the GOP if leaders don’t quickly endorse him.
While we don’t know the date Trump’s war on democracy ends, it’s becoming more inevitable every day. Trump’s McCarthy Moment may simply be a whimper, rather that the thud of the Senate’s McCarthy censure. But it cannot come too soon.
