'Comrade Kamala': Latinos Targeted by Fake News

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump now leads Harris in the swing state of Arizona by 50 to 45 percent, according to a New York Times poll released Monday. Latino voters in particular appear to have drifted away from the Democratic Party; 10 percent are now said to be “undecided.” About a quarter of all eligible voters in Arizona are Latino.

There is one question in particular that is currently being circulated in the Latin American diaspora across the country: “Is Kamala Harris really a communist?” The accusation of communism against center-left parties is an old one, but the means by which it is communicated seem to have become more sophisticated. Latinos and Latinos who come from left-wing countries are particularly vulnerable to this.

Examples of fake news are varied: an image generated using artificial intelligence (AI) depicting Harris as a communist dictator in military uniform with a hammer and sickle, “Comrade Kamala” memes, and, most recently, a manipulated video showing the Democrat as she stands with her VP, Tim Walz, in front of an “American Revolutionary Communists” sign.

Trump on Harris: 'She's a communist'

The video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and the AI ​​image has been clicked on 84 million times. American billionaire Elon Musk shared it on the X online platform with the caption: “Kamala vows to be a communist dictator from day one. Can you believe she's wearing this outfit?!”

Republican presidential candidate Trump has repeatedly accused Harris of being close to communism. At a campaign event in Arizona, for example, he spoke of democracy as a “companion” because: “She’s communist, Marxist, communist (sic!), fascist, socialist, although she’s not really socialist, she is.” And more than that. During the televised duel between the two, Trump said that if his rival wins, the United States will end up like “Venezuela on steroids.”

The Digital Democracy Institute for the Americas (DDIA) notes that since 2020, “prominent right-wing actors and influencers who support Trump have often pushed narratives that stoke racial tensions and fears of socialism” to undermine Democrats’ credibility. According to the Latin American fact-checking platform Factchequeado, these narratives are present in every election cycle, but we’ve never seen as many manipulated images as this one.

Experts: Capitalize on Fears

The BBC quoted experts as saying that accusations of communism are allegations that exploit the “real fears” of Latino voters, who have often fled communist-ruled countries. Political messages warning of a communist or socialist United States are particularly prevalent in parts of the country where people from Venezuela and Cuba live, such as South Florida.

Latinos and Latinos who immigrated to the United States because of repression by communist regimes are more likely to be misinformed about communism because of the trauma they experienced, she said. So it is also the job of Democrats to take these concerns and fears seriously and address them head-on, she said.

As the BBC explains: Although some prominent Democrats such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez describe their political views as “socialist democracy” by calling for universal health care, for example, the Democratic Party itself is neither socialist nor does it support communist regimes.

Traditionally democratic

In the United States, about 36 million Latinos and Latinas are eligible to vote, many of whom live in states that could ultimately be decisive in the election—such as Nevada, Florida, and Arizona. Traditionally, Latino Americans tend to vote for Democratic candidates in presidential elections.

But the Hispanic voter group is by no means homogeneous; it also has conservative leanings. According to a recent study, a third of Hispanics oppose liberal abortion rights, as promoted by Democrats.

Last but not least, aspects such as the economy and immigration also play a role, which means that Republicans have been able to score more points with Latinos since 2012. The New York Times writes about an “erosion” that may be enough to determine the fate of Democrats in the presidential election in November.