By Today's Standards, Teddy Roosevelt Would Be a Communist

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

If This Is Communism, Then Teddy Roosevelt Was a Communist

The policies under attack today once defined mainstream American leadership from Teddy Roosevelt to FDR and LBJ.

Thom Hartmann Jul 28, 2026

Trump's most recent desperate attempt to change the subject from his involvement with Epstein, Iran, Netanyahu, and the billions he and his grifter sons are making with their sleazy schemes is to call progressive Democrats "communists."

He's even gone so far as to suggest that some should be stripped of their citizenship and deported or thrown into one of his ICE concentration camps.

Posted by Corky at 10:02 PM | 9 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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#1 | Posted by Corky at 2026-07-28 10:03 PM | Reply

imo, Pres Trump seems to be using the "communist" attribution mainly to appeal to the older of his supporters. That is, those folk who remember the fight against communism that took place way back in the day.

Will the appeal to communism take hold with, let's say, Gen Z?

My guess is ... no.

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-28 10:05 PM | Reply

Sorry, but Trump doesn't get to establish today's standards of anything.

He can scream what he wants.

#3 | Posted by eberly at 2026-07-28 10:32 PM | Reply

Franklin would be painted a communist for social security and the new deal.

Theodore would be called a progressive for wanting to create nationally protected lands.

Eisenhower would be a progressive for raising taxes on the wealthy.

Reagan would a progressive for giving amnesty to immigrants.

The Republican Party of their era would view Trump as a dictator.

#4 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-07-28 10:39 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 3

Ol' Teddy might've been considered a communist, but he definitely was a white supremacist. He also liked to murder, gut and stuff thousands of mostly harmless animals in the name of science. Still, he had his fair share of adversity in his life, and at least had the guts to run up a hill in between asthmatic gasps and expose himself to an hail of Spanish bullets. I'm sure there's a similar hill in Iran that Trump can charge up.

I'm not GenZ, but I am nearly 35 and the word "communist" as a pejorative is about as corny and meaningless as the snooty uptalk of any valley-girl of the early 80s ... like, fer sure!

#5 | Posted by NerfHerder at 2026-07-28 11:17 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Excellent posts... am I in the right place?

#6 | Posted by Corky at 2026-07-29 10:30 AM | Reply

Excellent posts... am I in the right place?

#6 | Posted by Corky at 2026-07-29 10:30 AM | Reply | Flag: "I'll say, Corky!"

#7 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-07-29 11:26 AM | Reply

There are no MAGA standards for communism.

They are simply using that word because no one will believe that Democrats eat pets.

#8 | Posted by Zed at 2026-07-29 11:30 AM | Reply

Trump Fears the Future.

He's 80 billion years old and Knows death is coming.

He wants to do as much Damage as he can.

It's not like he will be around to deal with it.

Reagan had the Same Worldview.

It's called, Eating the Future.

That the American Electorate shares this Worldview is the Problem.

#9 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2026-07-29 01:37 PM | Reply