I think it is more correct to say that the Democrat party, and the old 'liberal' institutions, were subverted and eventually taken over by radical leftists. Leftists are not liberals in any sense of the word and we on the right should be more precise in our language.
There are very few 'liberals' remaining in the Democrat party and none in leadership positions. The far left has completely taken that party over.
IMHO, liberals are not the enemy and never were. They and conservatives had the same goals in mind, even if their policies to reach those goals differed.
The left is the enemy. Their goals are completely different than the goals of either liberals of conservatives.
Leftists are not liberals in any sense of the word and we on the right should be more precise in our language.They call themselves progressives, which is what Stalinists call themselves when they pretend to be liberal.