There’s been a lot of “communist” talk on the midterms campaign trail. It’s become President Donald Trump’s favorite new perceived threat coming from the left. But it’s actually not new at all.

US politicians, especially on the right, have long described communism as a threat to the American way of life. As a result, the United States has undergone historical periods of intense and occasionally violent means to suppress the spread of communism. Beyond the clash between capitalism and communism as economic systems, a line is often drawn between communist ideology and religion in America, specifically Christianity.

In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance , doubling down on the Christian values of an anti-communist America. The phrase “In God We Trust” was also added to US currency .…