The Return of McCarthyism

What if the most reviled political tactic in modern American history wasn't actually wrong—just incomplete? That's the unsettling question being posed by an influential group of hard-right voices who believe it's time to rehabilitate Senator Joseph McCarthy and embrace what Steve Bannon calls "McCarthyism to the tenth power."

For decades, McCarthyism served as American politics' ultimate red line—a cautionary tale about the dangers of political persecution disguised as patriotism. But now, prominent figures in Donald Trump's orbit are rewriting that narrative, arguing that McCarthy's 1950s crusade against Communist infiltration didn't go far enough.

Breaking the Ultimate Taboo

The rehabilitation effort spans from conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who wants to "make McCarthy great again," to far-right influencer Jack Posobiec, who insists "McCarthy didn't go far enough." Ann Coulter laid groundwork in her 2003 book Treason, arguing McCarthy was right about Communist infiltration, while Bannon has been pushing McCarthy's rehabilitation since at least 2013.

What makes this movement particularly striking is how it flips the script on one of America's most universally condemned political episodes. McCarthy's name became synonymous with unjust persecution after his 1954 downfall, when Army counsel Joseph Welch delivered the famous rebuke: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" That moment marked the end of McCarthy's influence—but today's revivalists see it as proof that McCarthy was constrained by the "relative decorum of the times."

Bannon, who calls McCarthy "a hero," even tried to buy the North Carolina home of McCarthy's most famous target, General George Marshall. The symbolism is hard to miss: where McCarthy once saw Communist infiltration threatening American sovereignty, today's McCarthyites see "globalists" and "deep state" operatives requiring similar treatment.

The Original Playbook

To understand what's coming, we need to revisit what McCarthy actually did. His 1950 speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, launched the era with a bombshell claim: "I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the secretary of state as being members of the Communist Party." The number shifted to 57, then 81—and the list was never produced. But it didn't matter.

McCarthy weaponized congressional hearings to destroy careers and reputations through public accusations and guilt by association. His targets included State Department officials, journalists, academics, and Army personnel. The ripple effects were enormous: Hollywood created blacklists of more than 250 suspected Communist sympathizers, while the House Un-American Activities Committee amplified the paranoia.

Documents released decades later revealed some Soviet infiltration existed, but nowhere near McCarthy's claimed scale. A 1950 Senate Democratic investigation called his specific accusations "a fraud and a hoax." Yet the damage was done—McCarthyism entered the lexicon as a cautionary tale about political persecution.

The New Target List

Today's McCarthyites want to expand both the tactics and the targets. In their 2024 book Unhumans, Posobiec and co-author Joshua Lisec advocate "naming and shaming" leftists and returning to Red Scare-style blacklists. They praise activists like Chaya Raichik (creator of Libs of TikTok), Christopher Rufo (anti-DEI crusader), and James O'Keefe as "early pioneers of revitalized McCarthyism."

But their definition of targets has expanded dramatically. While McCarthy focused on alleged Communist traitors serving foreign interests, the new McCarthyites target anyone opposing their political agenda. Posobiec uses "communists" interchangeably with "progressives" and "Cultural Marxists"—essentially anyone supporting left-of-center ideas about race, gender, and sexuality.

Bannon's hit list includes "globalists" who "don't believe in the nation-state"—a category encompassing Silicon Valley elites, media executives, neoconservative foreign policy hawks, and even Jared Kushner. He also targets "deep-state apparatus guys" like former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and Andrew Weissmann from Robert Mueller's team.

Most remarkably, Bannon includes the governors of Illinois, California, and Minnesota as McCarthyism targets for defying ICE enforcement—framing duly elected American officials defending constitutional federalism as threats to national sovereignty.

Beyond McCarthy's Methods

The new McCarthyites propose tactics more aggressive than anything the original senator attempted. Posobiec has posted about arresting "ALL communists" and supports "black-bagging communists and sending them to Gitmo"—referring to warrantless surveillance, detention without legal process, and imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay.

When I raised concerns about due process with Bannon, his response was blunt: "What do you mean 'due process'? These were spies and infiltrators. They don't get due process." This represents a fundamental departure from even McCarthy's approach, which operated within the judicial system despite its abuses.

As University of Virginia historian David Austin Walsh notes, if this movement "veers into proposing or doing anything violent, it isn't even really McCarthyism anymore—it's just fascism."

Rewriting History to Reshape the Future

The McCarthy rehabilitation is part of a broader right-wing project to recast American history. Recent examples include promoting "heritage Americans" over recent immigrants, painting Martin Luther King Jr. negatively, and targeting 1960s civil rights legislation. Some sections even attack the Enlightenment itself.

Vanderbilt University historian Nicole Hemmer explains this as "trying to build a history that excuses or legitimates authoritarianism and impunity." By reframing McCarthyism as necessary patriotism rather than dangerous overreach, advocates can present their agenda not as a radical departure but as a return to America's "true path."

The vagueness of how "McCarthyism" has been used over decades helps this revisionism. Supporters can cherry-pick elements that serve their purposes while ignoring the documented abuses and constitutional violations.