McCarthyism is Back!

Last night, President Trump sent the following Tweet:

            “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”

I sat there and read the tweet a number of times. The question I asked myself was, “does this President not know anything?” Then I thought some more, coming to the realization that Mr. Trump had actually got it right. Let me explain.

Joseph McCarthy, the Junior Senator for Wisconsin, was facing an election in 1952 which he was likely to lose. So, he came up with a wheeze. At a speech in Wheeling, Virginia, he spoke about the threat of communism. He waved some papers at his audience, stating he had a list of more than 200 names of people employed in the State Department, all of whom were communists and that there was a “spy ring” at State. The story, published in the Virginia and Wisconsin newspapers, took hold and soon it went nationwide, as McCarthy exaggerated his claims. The numbers of communists employed in the federal government increased but McCarthy failed to name anyone.

Senate hearings were convened and McCarthy and his side-kick lawyer, Roy Cohn, harangued and bullied witnesses. He obtained confessions from only two people, a janitor and a secretary. However, he received support from House of Representative members, as the House Un-American Activities Committee wrecked the lives of actors, writers and academics during the “Red Scare.” Meanwhile, McCarthy proved nothing about State Department officials. He knowingly lied and lied about communist infiltration just to get re-elected.

Like McCarthy, President Trump has offered no proof or evidence whatsoever in support of his claim of wire-tapping by President Obama and members of the Obama administration. Does he really believe that a man like Barack Obama would stoop to such a low level? Of course not. What Trump hates is the growth in evidence that members of his cabinet have been lying to Congress. So, he is retaliating in the way he knows, lie and demonize an opponent. In doing so, he is copying the tactics of Joe McCarthy. Shame on you, Mr Trump.