The words we use to describe people, events, and ideas aren’t just a reflection of our world; they actively shape it. This is something that the Republican Party has long understood. Over the years, the GOP has weaponized language to distort reality and justify harmful, hateful, regressive and dangerous policies. By failing to push back against this linguistic gaslighting, the Democratic Party and the media have let misinformation take root and pave the way for this current era — one in which Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, has been able to buy his way into the White House, and our democracy is being dismantled by an American president who doesn’t seem to care for the wellbeing of American people.
For decades, the Republican Party has rebranded harmful ideologies and policies in ways that mask their true intent. One of the most blatant examples is their use of the term “pro-life” instead of “anti-choice,” which is the most honest and accurate way to describe their intent and subsequent policies.
The false “pro-life” framing suggests moral superiority on their end while dismissing the reality that these policies are about forced birth, not the sanctity of life. If it were truly about life, the same politicians pushing these laws would support comprehensive healthcare, maternal care and social services — yet they overwhelmingly do not. Every time the media or the Democratic Party doesn’t push back against that framing and reposition it as what it truly is, “anti-choice,” they’re letting the GOP create and perpetuate the false narrative that they care about human life.
Then there’s “DEI,” an acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion. This was once a straightforward term representing efforts to create fair and representative workplaces. In response, GOP leaders have declared that it means something that it doesn’t — calling it reverse discrimination and using it as a stand-in for a racial slur, despite reports that white women benefit from affirmative action and DEI more than any other group. This fictional depiction that the right has amplified has been used to justify the dismantling of DEI programs, falsely claiming they undermine “merit-based” hiring.
This is an ironic stance, considering the fact that the people pushing this narrative, predominantly white heterosexual men, have benefited from nepotism, legacy admissions and other unearned privileges throughout all of American history.
Rather than accepting the intentional mischaracterization, our leaders should insist on folks using the actual words (diversity, equity and inclusion) and demand answers. What is so offensive about diversity, equityand inclusion? Why is acknowledging systemic racism a threat? When forced to answer these questions honestly, their true motivations — racism, misogynoir, and exclusion — become impossible to deny.
Before DEI, the GOP took the word “woke” — a term that was used by and for Black people to describe those who are aware of social injustice and racial inequality — and turned it into an all-encompassing word that describes anything they oppose. What began as a call for awareness of real life injustices has been transformed into a punchline and rhetorical scapegoat for everything from corporate policies to education.
This weaponization of language isn’t just showing up in the words the GOP uses. It’s also showing up in the words they’re trying to erase. A few weeks ago, the New York Times published a list of words that the Trump administration seeks to remove as they work to “purge the federal government of ‘woke’ initiatives.”
The list includes words like Black, women, female, pregnant people, disability, underrepresented, inclusion and racism. This erasure of language goes hand in hand with a broader campaign to control what Americans can read and learn. The Trump administration recently issued an executive order that called for the dismantling of several federal agencies, including The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an agency that provides funds for our libraries and museums, jeopardizing the future of them all.
To attack our libraries, museums and the continued banning of books that tell the truth about who we were and who we are is another form of suppression and weaponizing language. These efforts reveal a broader agenda: to erase uncomfortable truths and replace them with a whitewashed, revisionist history that aligns with their ideology.
These actions, along with Trump’s efforts to eliminate the Department of Education, silence universities, and punish law firms will strengthen the GOP’s control over our nation’s narratives, eliminate perspectives that challenge white supremacy, and reinforce a singular, exclusionary worldview.
The political party that has been at the forefront of these extreme changes, in addition to stripping women of the right to access adequate healthcare, hurting our senior citizens with changes to social security, and creating an environment where the January 6 Capitol attack could not only happen, but also result in minimal repercussions for those involved — has the nerve to still refer to themselves as “conservative.”
The Republican Party benefits from being labeled “conservative”despite its transformation into a far-right extremist movement. Traditional conservatism emphasized small government and fiscal responsibility. Today’s Republican Party is defined by attacks on human and civil rights and policies that increase government control over personal decisions. They are not conserving anything — they are dismantling, regressing and destroying.
During slavery, in the 1800s, southern states passed anti-literacy laws, which made it illegal to teach enslaved and freed Black people how to read. Those in power have always understood that language is one of the most powerful tools we have. It shapes how we think, how we see the world, and how we interact with one another. It influences our beliefs, values and collective memory. For far too long, Democrats have struggled to match the Republican Party’s aggressive, and oftentimes fictional, messaging. Instead of setting the terms of the debate, they have allowed the GOP to dictate the conversation, responding with weak counterpoints rather than bold, unapologetic and truthful assertions. This needs to change immediately. Our democracy depends on it.
Democratic leaders must recognize that messaging can’t be an afterthought; it’s what they have to lead with. They need to be clear, unwavering and just as loud with their language. But words alone aren’t enough — they need to be backed by action that is as swift, strategic and forceful as the Republican Party’s decades-long campaign of distorting reality to strip power from “we the people.” The fight for democracy is also a fight for truth, and that starts with reclaiming language from those who have weaponized it for destruction.
