Chris Cillizza warns Dems’ socialism support could doom them

NewsNation political contributor Chris Cillizza warned on his YouTube channel Tuesday that Democrats supporting socialism could doom the party in 2028.

Only 42% of Democrats said they had a positive view of capitalism, compared to 66% who held a positive view of socialism, Gallup found in a poll published on Monday. Cillizza said on his channel that the numbers presented an excellent opportunity for Republicans to pounce on to defeat the Democrats in 2028.

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“I guess it’s not terribly surprising, but I do think if I am a Democrat who wants to win the 2028 election … That would worry me candidly because socialism broadly will not sell,” Cillizza said. “You can call it democratic socialism. You can call it whatever you want. But the idea of socialism will not sell in the country.”

“And if Democrats are branded socialists — and numbers like this make it pretty easy to do that honestly and factual to do it — I do not think that they will win,” he continued. “I think you have to reframe this.”

Cillizza said prominent democratic socialists Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez must stop labeling themselves as such and cease using the terms “democratic socialism and socialism” for Ocasio-Cortez to be nationally viable electorally in 2028. He suggested discussing “economic populism” instead.

“[I]f I am a Democrat or a Democratic strategist looking at these numbers, and I’m looking at how I am going to win in 2028 … and I see these numbers … man, I see that as a gigantic vulnerability — a gigantic place for Republicans to attack, to call the Democratic Party a bunch of socialists, to say they don’t love capitalism, they don’t believe in the free market,” he said. “Those are things that I think Democrats have to worry about.”

“Socialism will not sell to the broad swath of the American public. It is a loser,” he added. “And even if your base views it positively, don’t talk about it.”

Democrats have espoused a more favorable perception of socialism than capitalism since 2016, according to Gallup.

Mamdani won the New York City Democratic primary for mayor and if elected in November, he intends to raise the minimum wage to $30, launch a variety of taxpayer-funded initiatives, including government-run grocery stores.

Mamdani has received endorsements from Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders. However, other New York Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have been slower to embrace him.

Republicans like House Speaker Mike Johnson view Mamdani’s candidacy as a gift to the GOP during the 2026 midterm elections.

“Democrats, who have learned nothing from their historic defeat in 2024, are rallying around a radical, Antisemitic, abolish-ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement], defund-the-police, big-government Marxist,” Johnson told the Daily Caller News Foundation in July following Mamdani’s mayoral primary victory. “Comrade Mamdani’s extreme views are bad news for New York City, but great news for House Republicans.”

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