"Joe McCarthy and his Senate hearings were like witch-hunts"

Desi Arnaz's quote is referring to the notorious Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Senate hearings during the 1950s. McCarthy was a Republican Senator from Wisconsin who was known for his anti-communist position and his aggressive techniques in rooting out presumed communists. He performed a series of hearings in which he implicated individuals of being communists and required they prove their innocence. These hearings were highly controversial and were seen by numerous as a type of persecution, comparable to a witch-hunt. Desi Arnaz's quote is a comparison in between McCarthy's hearings and the witch-hunts of the past, recommending that McCarthy's techniques were unjustified and overbearing.