Trump and Republicans are aggressively attacking Democratic Socialist candidates as communists ahead of the midterms, but experts question whether the label will stick with voters unfamiliar with Cold War messaging. NPR's Politics Podcast team examines the strategy, the actual policy differences between democratic socialism and communism, and whether this attack resonates beyond Trump's base. Democratic socialism and communism are fundamentally different: democratic socialism operates within the U.S. government system and emphasizes social safety nets, while communism opposes capitalism and private enterprise entirely.