“My warning to my fellow Republicans, Will, would be: If we don’t get this right, don’t blame young people for being sympathetic to socialism. We’ve got to blame ourselves,” said Vice President JD Vance in an interview this week with Fox News’ Will Cain.
Vance’s comments come on the heels of the rising popularity of Democratic Socialist candidates in the U.S., as shown in CNBC Generation Lab Poll results released this week. Those results showed that nearly half of Americans age 18 to 34 view democratic socialism positively.
According to the Democratic Socialists of America website, “capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit” and “we must replace it with democratic socialism, a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society.”
U.S. politicians who have been associated with or endorsed by the party include Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), former representative Cori Bush and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Per Ballotpedia, the party has endorsed candidates and ballot measures for this midterm election season.
This month, Hans Noel, associate professor of government at Georgetown University, joined Tommy Tucker out of Audacy station WWL in New Orleans to discuss the DSA and its popularity among younger voters. When Tucker asked if the term “socialist” turns off voters or excites them, Noel said “it does both,” and that we’ll see in November which one wins out.
Though the term is polarizing, Noel explained that democratic socialist generally just refers to progressive candidates frustrated with the mainstream democratic party. He likened them to the Tea Party movement among Republicans that he noted has mostly converted into President Donald Trump’s loyal “MAGA” faction.
“I think that you have a lot of that same energy, even like in Bernie Sanders’ run for nomination in 2016, of course, before Trump is nominated either. I think more a reaction to the reality that a lot Americans are facing that the system doesn't seem to be working well for them,” Noel said.
CNBC’s polling also found that 80% of respondents said they have a negative view of the American economy. In addition to inflation that has stubbornly lingered since the COVID-19 pandemic, there are general concerns about affordability, artificial intelligence impacting the job market and the impact of the Iran War on the economy.
That last point in particular – including the spike in gas prices linked to blockades of the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. joined Israel to attack Iran – have been a challenge for Trump and his administration heading into the midterms. The Economist showed that Trump’s approval rating was down to 34% this week, and The Silver Bulletin also showed a negative net approval rating.
Forecasts from pollsters and prediction markets indicate that Democrats could win back at least one chamber of Congress in the midterms, according to 270 to Win, making it harder for Trump and the GOP to pass legislation. That’s the backdrop behind the DSA buzz.
“You don’t stop socialism by throwing slogans at people about the free market,” Vance told Cain. “As much as I love the free market, you stop socialism by making people’s lives better.”
