In March 1962 my father began his weekly feature in The Star that he called "The Fifth Column." The departure of "What's New in New York" left four columns — "Looking Them Over," "Pike's Peek" (by Congressman Otis Pike), "The Librarian Says," and "Art in East Hampton." The publisher, his mother, decided that a fifth was needed.
I can imagine the snickers that her declaration in favor of a fifth column caused. Though gone from usual speech now, at the time "fifth column" had come to mean the enemy within. That suited my father just fine. And so the column was born.
Looking it up, I read from several sources that the phrase fifth column came into common use during the Spanish Civil War. A Nationalist general marching on Madrid predicted that in addition to his four columns of fighters a "fifth column" inside the city and intent on bringing down the Loyalists would rise up from within. During World War II, in the United States it came to signify seditionists working for the Axis. In the 1950s, the Communist Party in this country was denounced as a fifth column for the Soviets as the Cold War ramped up. Here we are again.
Donald Trump may not be old enough to know the meaning of fifth column, but the spirit of the term has become central to his campaign anyway. Just Sunday he told Fox News that there was an "enemy from within," meaning anyone against his becoming president a second time. In other appearances, Mr. Trump has suggested turning the military on American citizens simply because they oppose his candidacy. He and his surrogates have refused to commit to a peaceful post-election period should he lose.
Not to be glib, but trying to upend the peaceful transfer of power, as he did on Jan. 6, 2021, and threatens to do again, sounds a lot like an enemy within to me.