Overview of The communist comeback
This Today, Explained episode from Vox examines whether the Trump administration’s warnings about a “far-left” or communist resurgence reflect a real political threat or a modern-day Red Scare. The conversation centers on Fergie Chambers, a wealthy American communist living abroad who is facing U.S. extradition efforts over alleged financial support for Hamas, and uses his case to explore the broader difference between communism and democratic socialism in the United States.
The Fergie Chambers case
Who he is
- Fergie Chambers is a wealthy heir to the Cox family fortune who has embraced communist politics.
- He reportedly accepted a large payout from his family to leave them alone and has since funded left-wing and humanitarian causes.
- His support has included:
- leftist media projects
- bail funds
- abolitionist and prison abolition groups
- humanitarian aid and political prisoner support in Gaza
Why he’s in the news
- The U.S. government requested his extradition from Spain.
- He is accused of sending money that allegedly supported Hamas.
- The transcript notes that the indictment is sealed, so the extent of the evidence is unclear in the discussion.
What Chambers believes
A true communist, not a democratic socialist
- Journalist David Peisner describes Chambers as a committed Marxist-Leninist, not a Bernie Sanders-style progressive or DSA socialist.
- Chambers reportedly wants:
- revolution
- a total overthrow of the current system
- the collapse of the U.S. as a political order
How he got there
- His political awakening reportedly began in adolescence after reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.
- He was influenced by Marxist teachers and anti-colonial critiques of wealth and privilege.
- He later became active around Standing Rock, which intensified his sense of political responsibility.
Communism vs. socialism in the U.S.
What “communism” means in the episode
Professor Maurice Isserman explains that communism is fundamentally different from mainstream progressive politics:
- It emerged from the socialist movement after the Bolshevik Revolution.
- It seeks:
- government ownership of the means of production
- a total transformation of capitalist society
- historically, one-party rule
How it differs from DSA
- The episode stresses that the Democratic Socialists of America are not the same as communists.
- DSA figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani are described as working within the political system.
- Some DSA factions, however, include openly communist groups such as:
- Red Star
- Marxist Unity Group
- These factions are small but active and more revolutionary in outlook.
The history of American communism
A small but real movement
- The American Communist Party was founded in 1919, inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution.
- It grew during the Great Depression, when capitalism looked unstable and fascism was rising.
- Even at its peak, it remained relatively small:
- about 75,000 members in the late 1930s
- influence mainly through labor organizing and activist front groups
- A few communists were elected to local office, including two New York City council members in the 1940s.
Why it declined
The episode identifies two main reasons:
- Government repression
- the First Red Scare after World War I
- the McCarthy era in the late 1940s and 1950s
- Ties to Soviet policy
- the party followed Moscow’s shifting geopolitical line too closely
- this made it seem un-American and subordinated to Soviet interests
Is there a new Red Scare?
The episode’s argument
- The Trump administration is portrayed as trying to revive anti-communist fear as a political strategy.
- Speakers suggest this rhetoric is partly a response to weak political conditions for Trump:
- an unpopular war
- high gas prices
- weakness on immigration
- The episode argues that, unlike the Cold War, there is no obvious foreign communist superpower threat today.
Key distinction
- The show suggests that:
- socialism may be gaining some traction
- communism remains far outside the American mainstream
- Chambers is presented as an outlier, not evidence of a mass communist movement.
Main takeaways
- Fergie Chambers is a genuine communist, but highly atypical.
- DSA and communism are not the same thing, though some communist factions exist within DSA.
- American anti-communism has a long history, and the current rhetoric echoes past Red Scares.
- The Trump administration’s focus on communism may be more political theater than proof of a broad communist comeback.
- The episode closes by leaving open the question of which version of the left, if any, will shape the future—while emphasizing that predicting that outcome is difficult.