The New McCarthyism - Poster of the Week
- politicalgraphics
- Sep 19
- 4 min read
Except Reds…
William Gropper
Offset, 1947
New York, NY
83268
Immediately following the assassination of far-right influencer and alleged free speech activist Charlie Kirk last week, the Trump administration and supporters blamed the violence on Democrats and left-leaning institutions. Right-wing pundits across the country declared “this is war”, and many academics, government workers, and journalists like MSNBC's Matthew Dowd and the Washington Post's Karen Attiah were fired for daring to speak honestly about–or even directly quoting–Kirk’s hate speech. All this before knowing who the shooter actually was!
As soon as the shooter’s identity was revealed, his political ideology was scrutinized and molded to fit different agendas. Tyler Robinson was raised in a conservative Mormon family, briefly attended a conservative university, was a registered nonpartisan voter, had a romantic relationship with a trans individual, and left behind carved bullet casings with slogans associated with online gaming culture. Some speculated that he was a supporter of white nationalist Nick Fuentes and his followers (“Groypers”). Others, including the Trump administration, have claimed he was indoctrinated online by the “radical left." According to friends who knew him best, however, he was a relatively apolitical guy who supported both LGBTQ rights and the second amendment, and had simply “had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred.”
Regardless of Robinson’s background and ideology, leaders of both the left and right are consistently and vehemently stating that violence is wrong. The difference is that many Trump supporters are vowing vengeance and an end to free speech for liberals and leftists.
The Trump administration has also failed to acknowledge the political violence exacted by right-wing actors, including: the murders of Democratic Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband; the arson attack on Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro's home; the beating of Paul Pelosi; the attempted kidnapping of Governor Gretchen Whitmer; and the mass shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue, Pulse nightclub, Buffalo supermarket, and El Paso Walmart. Multiple studies by the Cato Institute and the Department of Justice have shown that right-wing political violence significantly outpaces left-wing violence. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice erased this study from their website.
The Trump administration has turned Kirk into a martyr, and are weaponizing his death to attack their political opponents. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has vowed to strip visas from anyone who celebrated Kirk’s death. Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana has declared he will blacklist people from schools, job opportunities, social media, and drivers’ licenses if they mocked Kirk’s death.
In addition, Trump called for prosecutors to file racketeering charges against George Soros, a Jewish Holocaust survivor and a major Democratic Party donor, for allegedly stoking violent protests. This conspiracy theory that liberal nonprofits are an affluent and well-organized network seeking to push Americans into political violence is both absurdly false and anti-Semitic.
According to two anonymous senior administration officials, the goal of conservatives is to categorize left-wing activity as domestic terrorism. The administration announced a plan to crack down on “leftist nongovernmental organizations” using every power of the federal government.
The United States has seen this partisan attack on left-wing free speech before. Following World War II and until the Free Speech Movement began in the mid-1960s, the anti-Communist “Red Scare,” also known as McCarthyism after right-wing Senator Joseph McCarthy, silenced left-wing voices and artists cruelly and decisively. The House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) turned neighbor against neighbor and coworker against coworker, in an effort to root out and destroy a perceived communist threat.
CSPG’s Poster of the Week was designed by political cartoonist William Gropper in 1947, in response to HUAC's escalating attacks against artists and the labor movement. The blacklist that targeted the Hollywood Ten and countless others is being revived. The cartoon’s damning statement on the government’s attack on constitutional rights rings frighteningly true right now, almost 70 years later—with a few additions:
The Trump administration has decided that
“all men are created equal… EXCEPT - leftists, people of color, Jews, Liberals, immigrants, labor activists, artists, government employees, women, Muslims, LGBTQ+ individuals, and late-night television comedians…”
Lift your paintbrush, your picket sign, your megaphone, your pencil!
Join your community protests!
Be part of the next NO KINGS Day, October 18th!
Defend our constitutional rights!
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