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A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was the Democratic party’s candidate in the election, but he proudly describes himself as a democratic socialist alongside left-wing lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Mamdani quoted the most famous American socialist, Eugene Debs, in his acceptance speech Tuesday night and talked about doing more for “working people” as opposed to the rich. There’s a fair amount of confusion and fear generated in the US by the term “socialist,” which is associated with repressive societies like Communist China, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, North Korea or Cuba. So it’s worth looking at what Mamdani and his supporters mean by it (think social programs in Western Europe) and also how the political right will use it against Democrats. President Donald Trump, for instance, liked to call Mamdani a communist and has threatened to pull federal funding from New York City when Mamdani is mayor. What does a democratic socialist believe in? CNN’s Erin Burnett has talked to Mamdani multiple times about the term and his beliefs, including after he won the Democratic primary and after Trump tried to label Mamdani as a communist. In June, Burnett asked Mamdani if he liked capitalism. He frequently returns to that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. quote to describe democratic socialism. There is no easily discoverable transcript of the relevant speech, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. But the quote did appear in press reports, including in the New York Times, around King’s speech to the May 1965 Negro American Labor Council convention. Is that type of socialism counter to the American Dream? Burnett countered that a lot of Mamdani’s fellow immigrants to the US come to the country to seek wealth. Does he not believe that’s part of the American dream? He told NBC News that no, he is not a communist, despite Trump’s repeated claims. What’s the difference between democratic socialism and communism? Communism, as expressed in “The Communist Manifesto,” supports the idea that there will be a class war in which private property and the means of production are seized for the public good. Think “Animal Farm.” Democratic socialism does not support the notion of a class war and instead pursues socialist goals through democratic means. What are Mamdani’s democratic socialist policy ideas? Mamdani’s big policy ideas are all focused on making life more affordable for working people. Mamdani also wants to increase taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and on the city’s corporations, but those proposals would require approval by the state legislature. Read more on Mamdani’s policy ideas from CNN’s Gloria Pazmino. Is there evidence that Mamdani is a full-on socialist? There is some. Take his Debs quote, which opened his acceptance speech Tuesday night. “I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity,” Mamdani said, quoting Debs’ remarks in court after his conviction for violating a World War I era law that forbade interfering with military recruitment. It was a sensational trial at the time. The Supreme Court would ultimately uphold the conviction and Debs would go on to run for president from his jail cell. It’s worth reading a bit more from Debs’ remarks. It’s that notion of seizing the means of production to which Mamdani’s fiercest critics have pointed. In comments he made on a recorded session for student activists with Young Democratic Socialists of America in 2021, he said that was the “end goal” of socialists like him. But he counseled activists to focus on popular proposals many people agree with like Medicare for All. He suggested that people would ultimately be convinced of the end goal. But that was a one-off comment in the midst of a Q and A session. When Mamdani made a video in the same period to explain his views of socialism, he did not talk about seizing the means of production, but rather looking out for human dignity. Does the US have any socialist programs? The US has a social safety net that was built up under the presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson with his Great Society. It is intended to help all Americans maintain a standard of living. People pay into Social Security and then claim benefits in retirement or when they are disabled. They pay taxes that support Medicare and then get discounted health care in old age. Medicaid helps low-income families afford health care. SNAP benefits help people afford food. Clearly these programs do not go far enough for democratic socialists or a lot of other Americans. Most Americans aren’t democratic socialists. But most Americans aren’t MAGA either. Around one-quarter of voters in New York City’s mayoral election said in exit polls released Tuesday that they considered themselves to be democratic socialists. As an indication of how labels can be squirrely, 12% of those democratic socialists supported Andrew Cuomo, not Mamdani, in the race. It is a much more popular label in New York City than MAGA, which was self-applied by just 11% of voters. Democratic socialism is less popular nationwide than it is in New York City. In a CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released in September, 17% of Americans said they thought of themselves as a democratic socialist, on par with the 18% who thought of themselves as MAGA. Views of socialism
