“The Daily Show” host Jordan Klepper asked Trump supporters what the biggest issue of the ballot for them this midterms was. Many said communism but none of the people the host interviewed could define it.
President Donald Trump has made communism a buzz word of the 2026 midterm elections, warning of its threat to Americans if they did not show up to the polls.
For his latest segment of “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse,” the comedian and host asked Trump supporters to define the term that they cited as the primary reason for voting this election season.
One Trump supporter in an America 250 shirt and a MAGA hat paused for a moment before stuttering out that it’s a “hard term” to define.
“It’s a hard term,” Klepper echoed. “It’s almost easier to just throw it out, insight some fear and just move on.”
“Yeah, I probably couldn’t give you a definition,” the Trump supporter said.
Merriam-Webster defines communism as a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production. It was popularized by Karl Marx, who wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848. In Marxist theory, the state leadership would wither away, and economic goods would be distributed equitably amongst constituents.
Though Trump often warns of communism and socialism’s imminent threats, his supporters did not quite understand the logistics of what could happen if the United States took on this form of government.
“Define it?” another man, wearing a MAGA hat, said. “You don’t want to hear me all say that, man. I love my freedom too much.”
When Klepper pressed, the man just said “they’re going to control you.”
Another duo in matching patriotic baseball jerseys were at a loss for words when asked to define what communism meant after saying that it was a threat on the midterms ballot.
The “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse” segment even included “Ivy educated” Vice President JD Vance struggling to define socialism.
“I don’t know what the term means anymore,” he said. “I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is that you want to replace American workers with foreign workers, and you want boys to play in girls sports.”
One older Trump voter, also wearing a MAGA hat, did push back on the president’s $5,000 checks he is offering Republican voters if the GOP wins this November.
“I’m not sure I like that,” he said. “Because it looks like he’s paying people to vote for it.”
“It does look like that,” Klepper concluded.
Watch the sneak peek of “The Daily Show” segment above.
