Use the excerpt from Joseph McCarthy's famous "Enemies from Within" speech delivered in West Virginia on February 20, 1950, to answer the question.

Question

Select the two highlighted examples that best identify the basis for McCarthy's fear of the spread of communism in the world and in the United States.
(1 point)
Six years ago, at the time of the first conference to map out peace — Dumbarton Oaks - there was within the Soviet orbit 180 million people. Lined up on the anti-totalitarian side there were in the world at that time roughly 1.625 billion people. Today, only six years later, there are 800 million people under the absolute domination of Soviet Russia — an increase of over 400 percent.
On our side, the figure has shrunk to around 500 million. In other words, in less than six years the odds have changed from 9 to 1 in our favor to 8 to 5 against us. This indicates the swiftness of the tempo of communist victories and American defeats in the Cold War. As one of our outstanding historical figures once said, "When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be because of enemies from without but rather because of enemies from within." The truth of this statement is becoming terrifyingly clear as we
see this country each day losing on every front.

Answer 1

The two highlighted examples that best identify the basis for McCarthy's fear of the spread of communism are:

1. The numerical shift in populations under Soviet control, which increased from 180 million to 800 million, demonstrating the rapid expansion of communism globally.

2. The change in the balance of populations from 9 to 1 in favor of the anti-totalitarian side to 8 to 5 against, illustrating the perceived threat to democracy and the implications of increasing communist influence.

These examples illustrate McCarthy's concern about the growing power of communism and the existential threat it posed both globally and within the United States.