Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are currently doubling down on one particular line of attack against their political rivals right now, branding them “communists.”

And authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University and the author of “Strongman: Mussolini to the Present,” explained how and why “communists” has become the latest bogeyman for Trump and Republicans in a series of posts on X on Wednesday.

It’s “not subtle,” she added in another, sharing footage of Trump claiming that “communists” are trying to blow up Mount Rushmore.

“The new party line is to associate Communists with every crime, every offense. Create a sense of Communist threat to justify a right-wing crackdown. Old playbook used with coups and Fascist takeovers,” she added.

In a third post, Ben-Ghiat urged people to track the recent difference in messaging and the rise to prominence of the slur. “Goal is likely to justify a crackdown for “national security” reasons, conveniently staged just before the midterms,” she warned.

Commenting on footage of Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the U.S. “doesn’t want to be a communist country,” Ben-Ghiat wrote: “Propaganda is about repetition.”

She added: “The group you want to smear must be mentioned negatively over and over again. When you are conjuring a largely imaginary enemy, you must redouble your efforts. That’s what is happening here.”

“I think we get the Party Line now,” she wrote while quote-posting a White House message declaring: “The United States of America will NEVER be a communist country.”

“Are we getting the point about propaganda requiring repetition with tiny variations in messaging?” she added while quote-posting a House Republicans message stating: “WE WILL STOP COMMUNISM.”