Shadows of the Red Star: CPUSA's Covert Influence in the Trump Era

James Comey, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Chuck Schumer…these prominent figures stand at the crossroads of a curious resurgence of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in 2025, a year defined by Donald Trump’s mass deportations, union challenges, and inspiring efforts to make America great again. Once a shadow of McCarthy’s era, CPUSA now stirs Resistance 2.0 through protests, boycotts, and labor mobilizations, with unseen allies possibly embedded in the corridors of power. As CPUSA co-chair Joe Sims noted in his July 2025 keynote, the approach avoids open revolution, favoring navigation through coalitions. Could sympathizers, wary of political stigma, be operating below the radar, shaping policy from Capitol Hill to intelligence agencies? Comey’s resurfaced 2003 remark about moving “from Communist to whatever I am now” invites questions about deeper undercurrents in Washington.

CPUSA’s 2025 revival blends visible action with subtle strategy. After Trump’s 2024 victory emboldened what Sims labels fascist-leaning finance capital (eye roll), the party shifted from endorsing Harris and Joe Biden to grassroots resistance. January’s People’s March in D.C., a 60-day anti-Trump effort, united pink-hat progressives with union militants. By July, Sims celebrated a “rising tide of struggle,” pointing to May Day marches and anti-DOGE protests, though noting their “overwhelmingly white” composition per the 2025 program’s call for racial solidarity. Collaborations with the Working Families Party and National Action Network fueled September’s March on Wall Street, co-organized by Rev. Al Sharpton, where CPUSA voices raised concerns about “super-exploitation of African Americans” and subprime scams. Local gains, like Steven Estrada’s Long Beach City Council seat and primaries in Ithaca, New York, and Northampton, Massachusetts, for November 2025, suggest tangible momentum. Sims’ February address hints at a plan to counter the “right-wing billionaire grip” through labor infiltration, such as NYC Central Labor Council support. Notably, CPUSA’s 2016 endorsement of Hillary Clinton and 2024 support for Harris and Biden reveal a pattern of backing Democratic leaders to advance their agenda, masked by overt marches and boycotts.

Like Russian submarines, could communist sympathizers be thriving just below the surface in 2025’s political landscape, where CPUSA ties carry heavy risks? The party’s 1919 Bolshevik origins have softened into a pragmatic “Road to Socialism USA,” with its 5,000 members leveraging indirect support. Sims’ July caution about “extremely complicated” 2026 elections, amid GOP vulnerabilities like Medicaid cuts, suggests a need for continued discretion. The 1930s Popular Front hid CPUSA behind FDR’s New Deal; today, DSA chapters advocate Medicare for All, and labor boycotts target companies like Target. Individuals, such as academics, union organizers, and bureaucrats, echo CPUSA’s anti-imperialist stance, like February 2025 Donbass aid via the American Communist Party splinter, without claiming the label. Amid climate-driven unrest, wildfires, floods, and biodiversity loss, they present “social ownership” as green jobs. Does visibility invite scrutiny, social media posts linking CPUSA to “DNC apparatchiks” suggest, making covert action a survival tactic?

Comey, the former FBI director, raises intriguing questions. His 2003 New York magazine comment, “I’d moved from Communist to whatever I am now,” gained new attention in 2025 after Trump’s win led to a September grand jury indictment for false statements related to the Russia probe. His William & Mary days, pre-Carter ’80 and post-Reagan ’84, included Marxist musings, per The New Yorker’s 2017 profile, before rising to Bush and Obama roles. Rush Limbaugh connected this to John Brennan’s 1976 CPUSA-supported vote, pondering deep-state motives. The indictment, tied to a big “no” on Clinton’s Russia disinformation plans, evokes McCarthy-era echoes. Was it youthful reflection, or a hint of unvoiced leanings expressed through leaks? His public fall serves as a caution: prominence risks exposure, urging others to stay hidden


This dynamic extends to visible proxies like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, possibly acting as public faces for quieter influences. Right-wing media speculate about funding, with 2020 George Floyd protest reports suggesting millions from USAID, our tax dollars, supported NGOs for bail and supplies. In 2025, Antifa confronts ICE agents with fireworks during deportation raids, while BLM blocks Tesla dealerships against Musk. These actions align with CPUSA slogans like “Defund imperialism,” redirecting the $850 billion military budget, as Sims praised in July without confirming ties. Funding traces, per The Heritage Foundation, show progressive philanthropies, potentially fueled by taxpayer money, supporting bail since 2020, totaling millions, with critics linking this to $2 billion in 2020 property damage. Meanwhile, Soros may laugh as our taxes inadvertently advance this agenda.

This dynamic extends further into the realm of international solidarity, where pro-Palestine activism serves as another visible proxy for CPUSA’s quieter influences. In 2025’s wave of campus encampments and street marches marking the October 7 anniversary, demonstrators draped in kufiyahs…iconic symbols of Palestinian resistance…echo the party’s longstanding anti-Zionist stance, labeling Israel a “racist, colonial project” and demanding an end to U.S. aid for what CPUSA calls an “ongoing Nakba.”

CPUSA’s fraternal ties with Palestinian communists and DSA chapters, which passed resolutions in August 2025 supporting “Palestinian resistance” and BDS boycotts, have mobilized these crowds, blending cries of “Free Palestine” with calls to “defund imperialism.”

From ANSWER Coalition rallies in Duluth to DSA-led vigils in New York, these events…often co-sponsored by CPUSA locals…amplify the agenda without overt red flags, raising questions about how taxpayer-funded NGOs might inadvertently bolster such global solidarity efforts.

As kufiyah-clad protesters block bridges and chant against “apartheid,” could this be the street-level echo of submerged ideological currents, diverting focus from threats to Israel?

Officials who critique such actions sometimes use strong language against the right, potentially shaping a new generation of activists. Biden condemned Antifa violence in September 2020: “Yes I do, violence no matter who it is.” Pelosi deemed Berkeley 2017 clashes “unacceptable.” Yet Waters encouraged confronting Trump officials in June 2018: “If you see anybody from that Cabinet… you create a crowd… tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere,” later softening her stance amid threats. Clinton’s 2018 “You cannot be civil” and Harris’ 2024 “fight fire with fire” resonate in Antifa circles justifying Molotovs. Ocasio-Cortez’s 2021 call to “get in the faces” of Republicans, and Schumer’s 2021 Supreme Court protest urging “justices to pay the price,” add to this, despite public disavowals. The FBI’s 2025 reports note a 1,000 percent rise in ICE officer assaults, possibly tied to rhetoric framing enforcement as oppressive.

The 86-47 incident deepens the mystery. In May 2025, Comey posted an Instagram photo of beach shells forming 86-47, captioned “Cool shell formation.” Trump allies interpreted “86” (diner slang for “get rid of”) and “47” (Trump’s term) as an assassination hint, with Tulsi Gabbard calling for jail time on Fox News, citing Comey’s mob past. He deleted it, claiming ignorance (another eye roll) and rejecting violence. Lexicologists trace “86” to Prohibition ejections, not murder, though political slang adds weight. Meanwhile, Democratic probes into Trump’s speech, up 1.6 percent in violent terms per 2024 studies, prompt reflection: “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” This question highlights their own rhetoric’s potential impact.

Broader questions arise from splinter wars to a “people’s agenda” in hiding. The American Communist Party’s 2024 split labels CPUSA illegitimate, yet both support anti-fascist forums like Moscow’s April 2025 event and aid. Their goals…defund imperialism, codify Roe, unionize gig workers…appear in Democratic platforms, notably through CPUSA’s endorsements of Clinton in 2016 and Harris-Biden in 2024.

Unmask the shadows, or let them continue to shape us? CPUSA’s 2025 rise suggests stealth adaptation, with Comey’s fall highlighting visibility’s risk. Sims urges defeating the GOP in Congress through subtle threads, not flags. Demand transparency on past leanings, audit intelligence for hidden biases, and prioritize policy over labels. Ignore them, and they might build their vision quietly. In Trump’s America, could resistance lurk in suites, not streets, awaiting discovery? The Republican focus on national renewal offers a beacon, contrasting with these hidden undercurrents.

Resources:

CPUSA Endorsement/Urging Votes for Hillary Clinton (2016): CPUSA article urging a vote against Trump and supporting Clinton as a strategic anti-fascist move, presented to the National Board on October 12, 2016. https://www.cpusa.org/article/its-possible-to-beat-trump/
CPUSA on 2024 Elections (No Formal Biden/Harris Endorsement): Fact-check confirming CPUSA did not endorse Biden or Harris but urged votes against Trump; includes 2023-2024 Labor Commission proposals for anti-MAGA mobilization. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/04/19/communist-party-usa-joe-biden-no-endorsement/73370787007/
CPUSA 2024 Election Strategy (Biden/Harris Context): People’s World article on CPUSA Labor Commission’s proposals for 2024, emphasizing defeat of MAGA without direct endorsement. https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/cpusa-labor-commission-makes-proposals-for-2024-election-work/
CPUSA Party Program (Updated 2025 Edition): Official CPUSA program adopted in 2019, updated July 13, 2025, covering “Road to Socialism USA” and calls for racial solidarity, social ownership, and anti-imperialism. https://cpusa.org/party_info/cpusa-party-program/
Joe Sims CPUSA Keynote (July 2025): Full text of co-chair Joe Sims’ keynote address to the National Committee on July 13, 2025, discussing “rising tide of struggle,” May Day marches, and resistance strategy. https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/resistance-2-0-a-rising-tide-of-struggle-report-to-the-cpusa-national-committee/
CPUSA Involvement in People’s March D.C. (January 2025): CPUSA report on mobilizing for the January 18, 2025, People’s March in D.C., a 60-day anti-Trump response with over 50,000 participants. https://www.cpusa.org/article/connecticut-cp-renewed-by-the-peoples-march/
James Comey 2003 New York Magazine Profile: Original article “James Comey – United States Attorney,” featuring his “moved from Communist” quote, published October 10, 2003. https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/n_9353/
James Comey 86-47 Instagram Post (May 2025): CNN report on Comey’s deleted Instagram photo of seashells forming “86 47,” interpreted as a threat, with investigation by DHS/Secret Service; published May 16, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/15/politics/james-comey-instagram-post-donald-trump-uproar
Additional Coverage of Comey 86-47 Incident: TIME article explaining the post’s context, slang meaning, and federal probe, published May 15, 2025. https://time.com/7285796/james-comey-86-47-trump-threat-investigation-instagram-post-fbi/

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