McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the act of accusing someone or a group of persons of disloyalty without proper proof and evidence. The term refers to U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the notion during the period known as the Second Red Scare that, American citizens who had ties with communist are internal threats and should be purged out.
Joseph McCarthy became a US Senator in 1946 but became famous in 1950 when he gave a speech saying there were about 205 communists in the State Department. His re-election in 1952 made him the chairman of the Committee on Government Operations of the Senate and of its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations . He became much talked about after he pointed accusing fingers at actors, musicians and even the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Even though he need not have any legitimate evidence on anyone, his accusations caused public condemnation to some, while others lost their jobs.