McCarthyism is a term used to describe the political practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without adequate evidence.
The term is named after Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who became known for his aggressive tactics in investigating alleged communists
A “big lie” is an extreme distortion of the truth, used for the purpose of spreading propaganda. It is often somewhat outrageous.
In theory, people will more easily believe a big lie than a smaller one, because most people assume …
The “lunatic fringe” is the wing of a political or social group that holds more extreme views than the rest of that group. The lunatic fringe tends to hold stronger opinions, as well as more fanatical views.
Merriam Webster notes …