Democratic leaders scramble to distance themselves from DSA as socialism gains ground in party primaries

A majority of Democrats now view socialism favorably, and DSA-backed candidates keep winning primaries, forcing party leaders like Hakeem Jeffries to publicly reject an agenda they cannot stop their own voters from embracing.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries went on NBC News' "Meet the Press" over the weekend and drew a line he clearly felt he had to draw. He does not support the Democratic Socialists of America's agenda, he said. Not the call to defund and abolish police. Not the push to end ICE deportations. Not the proposal to abolish the U.S. Senate or strip power from the presidency and Supreme Court.

But in the same breath, Jeffries conceded that DSA-aligned candidates who win their general elections in November will sit in his caucus. Breitbart reported that Jeffries described the incoming House Democratic caucus as "broad," encompassing progressives, New Democrats, and Blue Dogs alike.

That tension, rejecting an ideology while welcoming its standard-bearers, captures the bind Democratic leadership now faces heading into the 2026 midterms. And the polling numbers explain why the bind keeps tightening.

Fifty-two percent of Democrats view socialism favorably

A Fox News national poll conducted last month found that 52 percent of Democrats hold positive views of socialism. Just 11 percent of Republicans said the same. Democrats, the poll found, now view socialism more favorably than capitalism.

A CBS News survey fielded earlier this month produced similar results. And Gallup polling from late last year found that "socialism starts from a much less favorable position in Americans' minds" compared to capitalism or free enterprise, but that a majority of Democrats "praise socialism either for providing access to basic services and strengthening the social safety net or for promoting greater economic equality."

Republicans, Gallup found, "are far more likely than Democrats or independents to say there is nothing good about socialism."

The numbers are not abstract. They are showing up at the ballot box. This spring and summer, DSA-aligned and progressive candidates have defeated more moderate incumbents and establishment-backed opponents in primary after primary. This month alone, DSA-backed candidates won U.S. Senate primaries in Michigan, Minnesota, and Florida.

In Florida, state Rep. Angie Nixon, a DSA member, won Tuesday's Senate primary over an establishment-backed challenger. The Washington Examiner reported that DSA-backed candidates have also ousted incumbents in New York and defeated 30-year incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado.

In Michigan, progressive Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed, who initially declined to commit to supporting Chuck Schumer's leadership, has since earned Schumer's backing, a concession that illustrates how quickly the establishment bends once the primary votes are counted.

Carville calls DSA members 'a pack of fools', but the fools keep winning

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville appeared Monday on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" and offered the bluntest assessment from inside the party.

"They're a bunch of silly people... a pack of fools."

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, widely considered a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, called socialism a "failed experiment" during an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation." Jeffries, for his part, tried to redirect the conversation toward kitchen-table economics.

Jeffries has struggled before to manage his party's leftward drift, and his framing on "Meet the Press" followed a familiar pattern: distance from the label, embrace the people wearing it.

"We're focused on actually solving the problems hard-working American taxpayers want us to solve, which is to lower the high cost of living in a situation where life is far too expensive in this country."

The problem for Jeffries is that DSA's platform is not a vague set of aspirations. It calls for abolishing borders, granting voting rights to noncitizens, implementing single-payer Medicare for All, and replacing the presidency and Supreme Court with leadership chosen by and subordinate to Congress. Rejecting that agenda while caucusing with its champions asks voters to believe the distinction matters more than the votes those members will cast.

Progressive strategists say affordability, not ideology, drives the wins

Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, pushed back on the idea that voters are choosing socialism as a governing philosophy. He told Fox News Digital that the real driver is economic frustration.

"Health insurers have acted irresponsibly making access to affordable and quality care beyond challenging for Americans, wages aren't keeping up with soaring inflation and there is no plan to reconcile any of these issues. Voters are looking for a solution to the affordability crisis."

Caiazzo argued that "progressives are winning primaries around the country because the electorate is desperate for leaders that will address the affordability crisis that has swept the country." He dismissed Republican attacks on socialism as an attempt "to frame the debate around labels rather than the failed policies of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans."

New England College President Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist, offered a different explanation, one that may be more revealing. He suggested most Americans "do not know what socialism means in theory or in practice" and that voters backing self-described socialists are primarily motivated by a desire to reject establishment candidates.

"That is the bigger story here, voters participating in democratic primaries want new options, and they will even vote for self-described socialists to force the change they want to see."

If Lesperance is right, the DSA surge is less an ideological conversion and more a protest vote against a Democratic establishment that has already lost ground in its own backyard. Either way, the result is the same: candidates who want to abolish ICE, defund police, and eliminate the Senate are advancing to general elections under the Democratic banner.

Sanders' 2016 campaign planted seeds that keep producing

Saint Anselm College political scientist Chris Galdieri traced the shift to a specific origin point. Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton, Galdieri told Fox News Digital, fundamentally changed how younger Democrats think about the word "socialism."

"Since 2016 and the Bernie Sanders campaign, there are lots of Democrats, particularly younger ones, who don't think socialism is scary and wouldn't mind seeing more of it in U.S. policy-making."

For Republicans, Galdieri noted, the word carries a very different charge. "Socialism has been a boogeyman for almost a hundred years," he said, "and it was used as a criticism of everything from the New Deal to Obamacare. Republicans take it as a matter of fact that socialism is a bad thing and polls reflect that."

That partisan gap, 52 percent of Democrats favorable versus 11 percent of Republicans, is now wide enough to define a midterm election. And Republicans intend to use it. The socialist insurgency rattling Democratic ranks gives the GOP a ready-made contrast heading into November.

Johnson sees a 'contrast election' between common sense and the far left

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News Digital in an exclusive campaign trail interview Monday that he views the DSA primary wins as a gift to Republicans.

"I'm absolutely convinced we're going to defy the historic trend and keep and grow the House majority for Republicans."

Johnson framed the midterms as a choice voters can see clearly. "I'm so grateful we have common sense on the ballot," he said. "This really is a contrast election between commonsense candidates... and crazy, and that's what the other side represents."

President Trump reinforced that message this week, pointing to the consequences of socialist governance in remarks about cities led by progressive politicians. "They're driving out the middle class," Trump said. "You're not going to have anybody left to pay any taxes. And if you don't pay taxes, you know what happens. Squalor, squalor, filth."

The old Democratic leadership apparatus built over decades by figures like Nancy Pelosi was designed to keep the party's left flank in check. Jeffries inherited that machine. Whether it still works is now an open question.

Jeffries can reject the DSA agenda on Sunday morning television. Beshear can call socialism a failed experiment. Carville can call its adherents fools. But when 52 percent of your own voters view socialism favorably and DSA-backed candidates keep toppling establishment figures, the question is no longer whether the party's leaders agree with the movement. It is whether they can do anything to stop it.

When the people you call fools keep beating your candidates, the label starts to fit the wrong side of the scoreboard.