EDITORIAL: Democrats dawdle as DSA wins in another state

The Democratic Socialists of America want to destroy America. Some Democrats don’t view that as disqualifying.

On Tuesday, incumbent House Democrat Diana DeGette of Colorado lost her primary to Melat Kiros, a Democratic socialist. It shows the DSA’s influence isn’t limited to New York City. Because this district is heavily Democratic, it’s almost certain that Ms. Kiros will win in November.

This shouldn’t be noteworthy only to political junkies. The DSA isn’t interested in simply expanding government. It is a communist movement that wants to tear down America from the inside out. Its platform seeks to “win the battle for democracy, draft a new constitution and create a democratic socialist republic.”

This would include “abolishing the carceral forces of the capitalist state,” as Stu Smith reported for City Journal. The DSA wants to defund the Department of Defense and eliminate the U.S. Senate. The president and Supreme Court would be replaced with “an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.” Its platform also calls for mass amnesty for illegal immigrants and “public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries.”

In other words, DSA members aren’t hiding their love of Marx even if they call their goal a “democratic socialist republic” for the moment.

The DSA isn’t a fan of the Democratic Party either. The “Democratic Party is controlled by its elite donor class,” it says in its 2025-26 “Workers deserve more” program.

But the DSA will happily use the Democratic Party’s infrastructure as a shortcut to gaining power. The DSA wants to hollow out the Democratic Party and then control it.

Many Democrats seem OK with that arrangement. After DSA members won in NYC, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries embraced them. Mr. Jeffries is willing to ally with enemies of America and the Democratic Party to improve his chances to become House speaker next year.

A handful of Democrats are speaking up. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is one of them. “I said months ago, I said the Democratic Party is becoming an orgy of socialism,” he said late last month. “These recent elections vindicate my description.”

A handful of House Democrats and candidates, including Nevada Rep. Susie Lee, have signed on to the “Promise to America” effort. Signatories say they are proud of America, support secure borders and “are capitalist, not socialist.” Good for them. But more Democrats need to stand up, lest they wake up in the not-to-distant future to discover that their party has been hijacked by radical authoritarians who hate the United States.