Historians Nathan Connolly and Ed Ayers Give A History Of "Socialism" As A Scare Tactic In American Politics

The word “socialism” has made its way into American politics a lot recently.

At this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, President Trump used the term to repeatedly condemn Democratic policies.

"We believe in the American Dream, not in the socialist nightmare,” Trump said.

And it’s not just the GOP. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris made it clear to reporters at a campaign stop in New Hampshire: “I am not a democratic socialist.”

However, some Democrats, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are embracing aspects of the label.

But "socialist" largely remains a dirty, and often misunderstood, term in the realm of U.S. politics. During the Cold War, anti-Soviet sentiments and McCarthyism, a campaign against alleged communists in the U.S., are largely to thank for that.