Thread: Congressman Allen West: 80 Communists in Congress

Rep. West doubles down on Communist 'ideology' of progressive caucus

By Alicia M. Cohn - 04/19/12 09:02 AM ET


Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) on Thursday maintained that the "the strategy, the tactics, the ideology" of progressive caucus members in Congress are the same as that of the Communist Party.

"I'm just talking about the fact of the ideologies, the principles you believe in," he said on CNN, urging others to "stand upon truth" and learn to identify the ideological motivations of members of Congress. "I'm calling it this: communist, progressive, Marxist, socialist, statist."

Last week, West told a crowd of supporters in his home state that he believes “there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party.” He went on to explain he was talking about the Congressional Progressive Caucus. CPC co-chairmen Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) compared West's remarks to those of former Sen. Joe McCarthy, who "divided Americans with name-calling and modern-day witch hunts that don’t advance policies to benefit people’s lives.” McCarthy was censured by the Senate for the tactics he used in his attempt to root out Soviet spies and sympathizers during the Cold War.

West has not backed off the comment. “I’m not going to back down. I’m not going to be afraid about the fact that I called a spade a spade," he said Tuesday.

On CNN, West referred host Soledad O'Brien to the members of the CPC when she asked him to "name names" of the communists in Congress. "You've got the names," he said.

West, a freshman member popular with the grassroots Tea Party movement, is well known for making controversial statements and standing by them.

"I've had to give quite a few people a little tutorial about the political spectrum of ideologies," West said on CNN. "At the turn of the century here in the United States of America, American communists renamed themselves progressives but the strategy, the tactics, the ideology remains the same. When you're a member of a caucus that wanted to have a constitutional amendment to redistribute wealth in the United States of America, I don't think that's in keeping with the principles and values of this country."

The Hill


Socialist Party of America Releases The Names of 70 Democrat Members Of Congress Who Are Members Of Their Caucus

Hon. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Hon. Keith Ellison (MN-05)

"For the record, the Communist Party USA took offense. “I just think it’s an absurd way to cast a shadow over his colleagues. It’s kind of a sad ploy,” said Libero Della Piana, a vice-chairman of the national Communist Party, according to Politico.“It’s just guilt by association taken to an extreme,” he said. He also said there are no members of Congress who are members of the Communist Party – not even avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, from Vermont."