Fear Is Not a Policy: When Scapegoats Replace Solutions

If you listen to Republican campaign rhetoric lately, you might think America’s biggest problems are Muslims, immigrants, transgender people, transgender kids playing sports, and the terrifying possibility that a Democratic Socialist might want your tax dollars to pay for healthcare instead of another billionaire’s tax break.

Meanwhile, back here in reality, Americans are trying to figure out how to afford groceries, healthcare, housing, utilities, and gasoline.

That disconnect isn’t accidental.

Fear is politically useful. Fear gives people someone to blame. Most importantly, fear can keep voters angry about their neighbors instead of asking uncomfortable questions about the people actually running the government.

 

Look Over There! A Scary Muslim!

Republicans have increasingly made Muslims and Islam an issue in the 2026 midterms. Reuters reported in September that Republican politicians have attacked Muslim candidates, warned about “sharia law,” and even formed a congressional “Sharia Free America Caucus.” 

It’s an old political trick with a fresh coat of paint.

Find a minority group most Americans know little about. Portray that group as dangerous. Convince voters that their culture, religion, neighborhood, or children are under attack.

Then present yourself as their protector.

The same strategy has been used against immigrants for years. Instead of having a serious conversation about border security, immigration courts, asylum policy, agricultural labor, visa reform and the millions of people already woven into American communities and workplaces, immigration becomes a collection of frightening images and slogans.

That rhetoric works best when immigrants stop being presented as individual human beings and become “them.”

They are coming for your jobs.

They are coming for your neighborhoods.

They are coming for your country.

Be afraid.

And while you’re afraid, please don’t look at your grocery receipt.

 

And Here Come the Socialists!

Then there are the Democratic Socialists.

Republicans have spent decades using the word “socialism” as though saying it three times will summon Karl Marx into your bathroom mirror.

But ask what many Americans actually want and suddenly the terrifying socialist agenda sounds considerably less terrifying.

People want to be able to see a doctor without worrying about bankruptcy.

They want prescription drugs they can afford.

They want wages capable of keeping up with rent and groceries.

They want affordable childcare.

They want Social Security and Medicare protected.

They want corporations and extremely wealthy Americans to pay their fair share.

We can argue all day about the best policies for accomplishing those goals. That’s democracy.

But screaming SOCIALISM! isn’t an economic plan.

 

When All Else Fails, Blame Transgender People

And, of course, we arrive at one of the Republican Party’s favorite modern scapegoats: transgender Americans.

Especially transgender people in sports.

Republican campaigns continue to pour money into advertisements centered on transgender athletes and gender-related healthcare. PolitiFact documented the strategy across competitive 2026 races, including ads containing false or misleading claims about Democratic candidates.

Think about how bizarre our political priorities have become.

There are roughly 340 million people in this country.

We have healthcare affordability problems. Housing problems. Persistent inflation. Household financial anxiety. Rising energy costs. An escalating war. Infrastructure needs. Schools that need funding.

And somehow we’re supposed to believe that one of the defining questions of American civilization is which high-school sports team a tiny number of transgender teenagers compete on.

People can have legitimate discussions about fairness, eligibility standards, and competitive athletics. Those questions aren’t inherently hateful.

But when transgender athletes are elevated into a national emergency and repeatedly used in campaign advertising, something else is happening.

A tiny and politically vulnerable population has become an extremely convenient boogeyman.

Once again:

Be afraid.

And while you’re afraid, don’t look at the price at the pump.

 

The Problems Americans Actually Talk About

Here’s where the strategy collides with everyday life.

Pew Research Center found this summer that 69% of Americans were very concerned about healthcare costs, 66% about food and consumer goods, 64% about housing costs, and 56% about gasoline prices. Concern about gasoline had jumped dramatically from just 34% in January.

Another Pew survey found healthcare costs and inflation among the major problems Americans see facing the country. 

And Americans have reason to be nervous. Consumers are reporting worsening expectations about their personal finances and employment prospects. 

Those aren’t theoretical culture-war arguments.

Those are kitchen-table problems.

Your rent doesn’t care whether your neighbor is Muslim.

Your grocery bill doesn’t care whether someone crossing the border speaks Spanish.

Your health insurance deductible doesn’t decrease because a transgender teenager was kicked off a volleyball team.

And your gas tank certainly doesn’t become cheaper because somebody screamed “socialists are communists” on Faux News.

 

Then There’s the War

We’re also living through an escalating conflict with Iran that is already reverberating through energy markets and the broader economy. Oil prices have surged, putting additional pressure on gasoline prices and inflation.

Whether you call that war illegal depends on the specific military actions and the constitutional and statutory arguments surrounding them, and those questions deserve serious scrutiny rather than slogans.

Oh, silly me. I thought Congress was supposed to have a say in matters of WAR AND PEACE.

You know, that whole pesky Constitution, with its separation of powers, checks and balances thing they made us learn about in Civics class.

Apparently, under Trump, that’s all just optional reading.

Because why bother with congressional authority when one narcissistic asshole can just decide he knows best? Trump doesn’t give a flying fuck about checks and balances, constitutional limits, or anyone having the audacity to tell him NO.

He does whatever the hell he wants, and Republicans either fall in line, make excuses for him, or pretend this is somehow perfectly normal.

And then the rest of us get handed the bill. Higher prices, instability, dead bodies, international chaos, and potentially another damned forever war.

But sure, tell me again how this is the party of “limited government” and “constitutional conservatives.”

Apparently, “constitutional” now means whatever Trump wants today.

Fuck that.

Americans deserve answers about military objectives, authorization, costs, casualties, duration, and what exactly constitutes “victory.” Military members dying in action are NOT “small potatoes”! 

Those questions matter considerably more to the future of this country than whether someone named Mohammed moves into your neighborhood.

 

Fear Keeps Us Fighting Each Other

This is the part I wish more Americans understood.

Scapegoating works because it redirects anger.

If you’re furious with immigrants, you’re not furious with the corporation raising prices while reporting enormous profits.

If you’re terrified of Muslims imposing “sharia law,” you’re not asking whether politicians are protecting religious liberty equally for Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and everyone else.

If you’re obsessing over transgender athletes, you’re not asking why your insulin costs so much.

If you’ve been convinced Democratic Socialists are plotting to destroy America, you might never stop to ask why guaranteeing healthcare in the so-called wealthiest country on Earth is portrayed as radical while endless government subsidies and favorable policies benefiting giant corporations are treated as perfectly normal.

That’s the game.

Keep working people suspicious of one another.

Keep Christians afraid of Muslims.

Keep native-born Americans afraid of immigrants.

Keep straight and cisgender Americans afraid of LGBTQ people.

Keep conservatives terrified of socialists.

Keep everybody fighting horizontally so nobody bothers looking up.

 

Ask the Question They Don’t Want Asked

The next time a politician tells you to be afraid of some tiny group of Americans, ask one simple question:

What are you going to do to make my life better?

Let’s go one step further and elaborate…

How will you lower healthcare costs?

How will you make housing affordable?

How will you bring grocery prices under control?

How will you increase wages?

How will you protect Social Security and Medicare?

How will you lower energy costs?

How will you keep America out of unnecessary wars?

How will you make sure someone working 40 hours a week can actually afford to live?

If the answer is another story about immigrants, Muslims, transgender kids, or scary Democratic Socialists, maybe you’ve gotten your answer.

Because fear isn’t healthcare.

Fear doesn’t pay rent.

Fear doesn’t fill a gas tank.

Fear doesn’t buy groceries.

Fear isn’t a foreign policy.

And fear sure as hell isn’t a governing agenda.