The McCarthy Era, during the cold war of the 1950s, was characterized by a rampantly growing fear of communists, often called “The Red Scare”—a fire fanned by Senator Joseph McCarthy. The term McCarthyism is still used to describe the act of making accusations without sufficient evidence.

Examples of McCarthyism can be found throughout history, predating the Cold War (i.e., The Salem Witch Trials,) and continuing to appear in present times, particularly under the current administration. The parallels between Donald Trump’s and McCarthy’s tactics are quite striking. In both cases, it began with an “us versus them” mentality, followed by name-calling and assassinations of character. As history has shown us, these tactics appeal to a childlike instinct in humans to band together and are frighteningly effective in fanning the fire of a mob mentality. Policies of exclusion and aggressive rhetoric quickly become accepted by the members of the aforementioned “mob.” People begin feeling justified in turning on their fellow Americans, using factors such as ethnicity and religion to make blanket assumptions and accusations. For example, Trump’s infamous claim that all Mexicans are “rapists and criminals” can be likened to McCarthy’s slanderous rhetoric, just as Trump’s immigration bans can be likened to McCarthy’s blacklists. Similar to McCarthy, Trump has refused to back down, even when his most outrageous claims have been publicly questioned.

To this day, fear mongering and inflammatory rhetoric continue to threaten American values, political policies, and national ideals of equality.