Hewitt: Chuck Schumer ‘Paralyzed’ By Left-Wing DSA Radicals
A generational struggle is reshaping the Democratic Party as self-described democratic socialists gain influence in congressional primaries and attract growing support from younger voters.
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt warned that traditional Democratic leaders appear unwilling—or unable—to confront the movement, even as Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates advance policies far outside the party’s old tax-and-spend liberalism.
Hewitt discussed the party’s transformation Thursday with Fox News anchor Sandra Smith, who pointed to polling showing that roughly one-third of Democratic-aligned voters now identify as democratic socialists.
“How is it that this group, Democrat Socialists, are getting this kind of support? This new CNN poll, I’ll put it up on the screen, shows that a third of Democrats now identify as Democrat Socialists,” Smith said to begin the segment.
“What is happening here, Hugh?” she asked.
Hewitt responded by arguing that the Democratic Party is rapidly moving toward a political ideology hostile to free enterprise, private property, Israel and traditional American institutions.
“They are going full ‘Thelma and Louise’ over the left cliff, Sandra. Good morning to you. When they go for communist China, you realize there is socialism in their mouth, there’s Marxism in their mind, but there’s communism in their heart,” Hewitt began.
“And when you throw in with the Maoists in China, you’ve just gone completely over the cliff. And it’s not just El-Sayed and his anti-Semitic extremism in Michigan. It’s Talarico in Texas, it’s Troy Jackson in Maine, it’s Peggy Flanagan that’s likely to get nominated the week after this Tuesday in Minnesota,” the conservative commentator continued.
Hewitt said the movement is no longer limited to a few highly visible lawmakers from deep-blue districts.
“Those four are hard, hard-left radicals. They’re anti-American, anti-Israel, often anti-Semitic, and they have a dozen members of the House already and we’ve got at least six hardcore DSAers, three out of Manhattan, we’ve got Hamawy won in New Jersey, Rabb in Philadelphia, Kiros in Colorado,” he said.
“These are all House candidates nominated by the Democrats. So what’s is happening is the primaries, the Democratic primaries are being taken over by these radical activists,” Hewitt went on.
The growing strength of socialist candidates has become a serious problem for establishment Democrats. In heavily Democratic districts, winning the primary often means winning the general election, giving organized ideological groups enormous power to determine who enters Congress.
Hewitt urged voters to examine the DSA’s official agenda rather than accepting softer descriptions of the movement as merely progressive.
“And if you go to the DSA website, I think I’ve said this on the program before, the DSA agenda is against private property,” he noted.
“These are not the old-fashioned tax-and-spend liberals like Walter Mondale and Mike Dukakis. These are actually full-blown socialists/Marxists/communists,” said Hewitt.
He argued that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and other senior party officials are too afraid of the activist left to draw clear ideological boundaries.
“And the party, Chuck Schumer is paralyzed. They’re afraid to say, ‘You can’t be in our party.’ The only one who’s got the courage is John Fetterman, He will probably get tossed out.”
Smith noted that support for socialist candidates may extend beyond voters who personally embrace the label.
“I mean, heck, they are against corporate business and profits. I don’t see an end in sight for some of the radical calls and the radical agenda that they continue to post,” Smith said in response.
“And while a third of Democrats you identify as Democrat Socialists, the number or percentage is even bigger when it comes to Democrats who say that they would support — this is The Washington Post poll — say that they would support a Democrat Socialist candidate,” she added.
The discussion comes as Sen. John Fetterman continues to challenge the party’s socialist wing over its hostility toward Israel and increasingly radical domestic positions.
Schumer publicly urged Fetterman to remain a Democrat this week, calling the Pennsylvania senator “a very good member of Congress” and describing Democrats as a “big-tent party” capable of tolerating disagreements.
The comments followed renewed speculation that Fetterman could leave the party after repeatedly breaking with fellow Democrats on Israel, immigration and the DSA’s expanding influence.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has acknowledged that Republican senators discussed Fetterman’s frustrations and would welcome him into their conference should he ever choose to switch parties.
Fetterman, however, said this week that he intends to remain a Democrat despite his disputes with the socialist movement.
His decision leaves him in an increasingly unusual position: a Democratic senator attempting to defend Israel and reject the DSA while party leaders work to hold together a coalition moving steadily further left.
The broader question is whether establishment Democrats can continue calling themselves a big tent while refusing to confront candidates who seek sweeping government control of the economy and fundamental changes to America’s constitutional system.
Hewitt’s warning is that the transformation is already happening—and that Democratic leaders are too politically intimidated to stop it.