Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha declared establishment Democrats “dead,” as the socialist movement within the party gained “momentum” following numerous primary victories.
“Socialists are gaining such momentum right now because they can get people out for primary votes, where the establishment is dead,” Concha said on Fox Business’s Kudlow Wednesday. “If you’re a Democrat, and you’re establishment, so-called ‘moderate,’ you will be primaried, and you will be beaten.
“This is the way things are going now at this point in the Democratic Party, especially in major cities,” he said.
The remarks come as socialist and progressive candidates continue to win in Democratic primaries across the country, including most recently in Colorado and New York.
The three candidates New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed in the New York primaries won, with one of those candidates, Brad Lander, defeating the incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY).
A similar situation happened in Colorado when 29-year-old socialist Melat Kiros, who was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), defeated Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO).
While Concha acknowledged socialists’ momentum in primaries, he questioned if the larger Democratic Party will embrace these candidates and shift further left.
“The question is, do Democrats stand up or just take it lying down?” Concha said. “Because eventually, when there’s national elections in places like Michigan, for example, Abdul el Sayed is running there against Mike Rogers. If [el Sayed] wins, then the alarm bells should go off.”
Concha argued the Democratic Socialists of America will “squash” the Democratic National Committee.
“The Democratic Socialist of America have money and have organization,” Concha said. “That’s why they will squash the DNC, the establishment, then therefore become the DSA, socialist versus Republicans.
“You want that fight every time, twice on Sunday,” he said.
SOCIALIST PRIMARY WINS COULD COMPLICATE JEFFRIES’ PATH TO THE SPEAKER’S GAVEL
Concha said how President Donald Trump responds to the growing socialist movement is his “Reagan moment.”
“Reagan fought communism better than anybody,” Concha said. “Now he has that stark contrast to say ‘either choose communism or choose common sense,’ which one are you going to go with?”