A new talking point arose for Republicans this week in the wake of big wins for Zohran Mamdani-backed candidates in New York: “the communists are taking over.”
While Democratic Socialism is not communism, it’s a false equivalence that Donald Trump tried out in a lengthy Truth Social post, and it prompted a conversation on MS NOW’s “The Weekend” panel on Saturday over whether it’s cause for concern for Democrats in the upcoming midterm election.
“I think there’s no question that the Republicans and their party arm and all their money that they’re going to put behind these midterms, it’s going to be used full force to go after Democrats in swing districts to try to label them as the people that are going to literally take away your homes and your food,” said Congresswoman Susan Wild. “And we’re all going to be, I mean, they’ll call us socialists but they’ll be inferring that we’re communists. And it will happen over and over, and, so, Democrats should be worried about that.”
But that doesn’t mean they should deviate from their own platforms, she argued.
“But they need to hold their own and they need to stand up for what they are,” Wild added. “And in their individual districts, in the tough districts like my old district, Pennsylvania 7, you’ve got to just focus right on your district, that’s the only place that matters.”
Host Jonathan Capeheart agreed. “I mean that’s the thing about the Democratic Socialists who were elected, who won their primaries, they are in incredibly safe blue districts.”
Those candidates are in “the bluest district in the country,” Eugene Daniels cut in.
“I mean when you talk about focus, Congresswoman, this is one of the things that— and we’ve talked about on the show for the last year — is like as the energy happens with the Democratic Party, as they’re flipping seats … is them being able to stay focused on doing that and stay focused on their own races.”
“And I think, you know, I talked to a bunch of moderates this week who were like, ‘Oh no, the Democratic Socialists of America are taking us over,’” Daniels added.
But the DSA only has around 100,000 members across the nation, he said.
“That is the number. 100,000 members of the DSA, that’s it, nationwide,” Daniels said. “So, wake me up when the Democratic Socialists of America win in November, in Pennsylvania’s Senate. Wake me up when they’re in a purple district, otherwise Democrats who want to win should stay focused on their races [and] stop allowing the Republican party to dictate how they behave.”
Wild agreed. “I thought the quote of the week came from Susie Lee from Nevada, who when asked about the outcomes in New York, said,’ I don’t live in New York, I don’t represent New York.’”
