Publisher and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes declared President Trump "right" to warn of an internal communist threat during the nation's 250th Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore, calling the socialist surge in American politics a "disease that needs addressing."

Trump's Semiquincentennial Warning

Speaking beneath the carved faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln on July 3, Trump used the historic occasion to deliver a stark political message. "Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11," the president declared.

The 30-minute address marked a dramatic departure from the typically apolitical tone of Independence Day celebrations. Trump warned of a "resurgence of the Communist menace in our land" and labeled political opponents "godless Communists" who pose an existential threat to the nation. "We will never become a communist nation," he vowed.

Forbes Invokes Lincoln

In an interview at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, Forbes backed Trump's framing by invoking Abraham Lincoln himself. "It's not foreign powers that destroy America. It's what we do at home," Forbes quoted the 16th president, directly connecting Lincoln's warning to the modern socialist movement.

Forbes specifically cited "the socialist turn in New York City" under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialists of America member who took office in 2025. The media mogul labeled communism, socialism, and extreme leftism as "akin to a disease that needs addressing"—language mirroring Trump's own characterization of the ideological threat.

The Evidence Trump Points To

Trump's warning came in the wake of an unprecedented wave of socialist primary victories across the country. Nearly 30 DSA-aligned candidates won primaries in the 2026 cycle, including:

Melat Kiros: The 29-year-old DSA member defeated 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado's 1st Congressional District primary on June 30.

Claire Valdez: Backed by Mayor Mamdani, she ousted Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in New York's 7th District primary.

Darializa Avila Chevalier: Defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York's 13th District.

Additional DSA victories in Buffalo and Syracuse state legislative primaries have extended the movement's reach beyond its New York City base into upstate regions traditionally resistant to progressive politics.

Critics Call It McCarthyism

Democrats and media critics quickly compared Trump's rhetoric to the Red Scare tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. The president's speech was characterized as "darkly political" and a departure from the tradition of unifying Independence Day addresses that typically emphasize shared national values over partisan divisions.

But Forbes and other conservative commentators see the warning as both timely and necessary. With DSA-backed candidates winning primaries in districts previously considered safe for establishment Democrats, the socialist movement has demonstrated electoral strength that cannot be dismissed as fringe.

The Stakes of 2026

Trump's Mount Rushmore address signals that the midterm elections will be fought in part as an ideological battle over America's economic identity. The president has found a clear line of attack: painting Democratic candidates—even moderates—as enablers of socialist ambitions that threaten the free-market system that built American prosperity.

Whether voters respond to the communist warning or dismiss it as overheated rhetoric will help determine control of Congress in November. For now, Trump has the backing of at least one prominent voice from the business establishment—and Steve Forbes isn't known for hyperbole.