Question

read the source of the allusion. in the 1950s, u.s. senator joseph mccarthy led a ruthless investigation of americans whom he accused of being communist sympathizers. based on flimsy or nonexistent evidence, the accusations created a climate of suspicion and fear. what is the meaning of the allusion in the sentence below? the candidates fixation on his opponents failure to wear a flag pin on flag day seemed at times to border on mccarthyism. underhanded strategies used in the service of winning aggressive questioning of a persons patriotism inappropriate attention to a small detail

Explanation:

McCarthy made baseless accusations of communism, creating a climate of suspicion. Fixating on not wearing a flag - pin is an aggressive way of questioning patriotism, similar to McCarthy's tactics.

Answer:

aggressive questioning of a person's patriotism