Most Americans first heard about the Democratic Socialists of America during the 2016 Democratic primary. The rise of the “Bernie Bro” and Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) so-called “democratic socialism” stood in blatant opposition to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s corrupt Washington-insider politics. Despite Sanders’s eventual loss, his calls for socialism resonated with many young people.
By 2017, the DSA had grown to 25,000 members, and by July 4, 2026, amid the political turmoil of the 2020s, it had grown to 120,000 members. The budding relevance of the newly popular organization has led to over 100 primary upsets in the 2026 Democratic primaries and has led the once-fringe faction on the left wing of the Democratic Party into the mainstream.
The controversy lies in the fact that the ever-growing Democratic Socialists of America is not compatible with the other factions of the party. Its policies call for the systematic dismantling of the U.S. Constitution, abolishing the police and prisons, and enacting the government seizure of businesses. Alongside its doctrine, the organization spells out its extremist-riddled, anti-American ideologies, announcing in its platform, “Our enemies are not just individual bosses, but the entire global system of capital… we know complete victory will require building a new society from the ground up.”
To achieve its revolutionary goal, the DSA needed a pathway toward developing the next generation of socialists and hoisting them into positions of power. The answer was creating a youth branch. The Young Democratic Socialists of America has become a popular path for many Democrats looking to enter politics. The YDSA has become a major voting bloc in liberal hot spots and has helped elect young socialists across America, with candidates such as 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor of New York City by capturing 78% of voters under 30.
The YDSA gladly accepts its role in brainwashing the naive students and implementing violent policy at the forefront of the youth’s minds. The YDSA has become famous for preaching systemic radicalism and for the dismantling of the United States, saying, “We are students organizing in our universities, colleges, and high schools to fight for the immediate needs of workers and students while building our capacity to fight for more radical and structural changes.” The group’s public proclamation of intentional violent militancy should not be taken lightly and is the proud rhetoric of active radicals.
The YDSA has formed groups that have transparently expressed its revolutionary purpose. Recruiting the next generation of socialists to be putschist fundamentalists, James Hernandez, who was voted into his position because of his pro-militancy politics, candidly stated that the YDSA project’s goal is “How does DSA recruit those people and turn them into militants?”
The current co-chairs of the YDSA, Mae Bracelin and Hernandez, have argued that they must make unions more militant and transform unions into coordinated parts of the DSA’s agenda to win. With the stated purpose of practicing “a lot of militancy” and “break the law and get away with it”
Specifically for Hernandez, his goal is to create a burgeoning international anti-imperialist solidarity movement, saying, “You will always have a comrade in the United States, in DSA, in YDSA. We are in the struggle together.” With these words spewed in front of countless Marxist organizations, practically opening the gates and calling for the anti-American internationalist to turn their eye on the U.S.
The YDSA does not work alone. It has an affinity for other violent, Marxist organizations such as Black Lives Matter. The same organization that was initially donated $20 million by Hugo Chavez and in 2020 alone supported over 600 riots across America, resulting in a 30% spike in murders. With BLM loudly crying that America must change its way because capitalism and Americana are discriminatory.
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The YDSA has leaned into those calls to pervert and remodel America. During the societywide liberalization led by the Biden tenure, socialist groups systematically seized on an apathetic population, with Marxist organizations parasitically burying their cultural agendas into college administrations and education through institutionalizing critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The YDSA has always and will always hold a prideful image of its inseparable, Marxist connection to political violence. Its work in pushing through Marxist candidates, creating militant unions, and siding with radicalist organizations is cancerous and unstable. The path the YDSA is walking down will only lead to revolt and violence. Exposing this connection and pursuing an effort to safeguard the social and political foundation that stabilizes American politics are the solutions to restoring peace and sanity in America.
Grayson Ryland is a regional field manager at the Leadership Institute.