Bernie Sanders accused Trump of being a 'Stalinist'. Earlier, Trump labelled Democrats as 'Marxists'.
Details. On 30 June 2025, in an interview with MSNBC, U.S. Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders compared the Republican Party to a 'Stalinist' party and drew parallels between Trump and Joseph Stalin for his 'cult of personality'.
Quote: “The Republican Party has not just become a right-wing extremist party. In many cases, it’s become like a Stalinist party, a cult of the individual”.
Context. Sanders’ comments are part of a wider Democratic Party campaign against Trump, branding him an “authoritarian” who favours elites over ordinary people.
► Trump and Republicans have also repeatedly labelled their opponents as “communists” or “Marxists.”
In reality, capitalist representatives, both left and right, routinely brand their opponents as “Stalinist,” “Marxist,” or “communist” to discredit them.
► There are many examples from the US and across the world. Before the start of the 'SMO', Putin delivered a speech in which he blamed communists for creating Ukraine, saying that it "can be rightfully called 'Vladimir Lenin’s Ukraine". Later, Virginia Governor Youngkin referred to Putin as a "Soviet dictator" in a public statement.
► Marx witnessed this same phenomenon over 170 years ago, writing in the “Manifesto of the Communist Party”: “Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled back the branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced opposition parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries?”
► Even after destroying the Soviet Union and crushing communist movements at home, capitalists still fear working-class power. Calling anything they see as a threat, even other capitalists' methods of rule, “Stalinist tyranny.” The essence of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump is revealed: defend the rule of capital.