Democrats were hoping a big tent could paper over their socialist problem.
But Abdul El-Sayed’s win in Michigan made that impossible to ignore.
And Hillary Clinton went public with a warning that has Democrats bracing for a revolt.
As Conservative Reboot reports:
The biggest story in politics in 2026 is the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) takeover of the Democratic Party.
Candidates endorsed by Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders, like Abdul El-Sayed out in Michigan, are winning primaries on a platform that even Democrats like Hillary Clinton find too extreme.
Clinton claimed in an interview with podcaster Kara Swisher that Democrats’ willingness to have a big tent opened the door for socialists to enter the party.
“I think there’s no doubt that, you know, the Republican Party is the Trump Cult and the Democratic Party is a bigger tent. We do have a broad cross-section of people, what they believe, and what their experiences are. I think that’s an advantage, but we also have to win general elections,” Clinton began.
But Clinton noted that in 2024, the socialist left didn’t turn out in great numbers for Kamala Harris over the war in Gaza, and Clinton worried that disunity would extend to 2026 as establishment-minded Democrats would return the favor after El-Sayed and his supporters’ nasty attacks on his opponent.
“I mean, the kind of things that were said about Haley [Stevens], her supporters, there were a lot of really nasty personal attacks, which you’re familiar with…
One thing that we haven’t yet seen enough of is that when the progressives are left, whatever we want to call candidates on that side of the Democratic Party, when they lose, they often don’t support the candidate who has been nominated.
You know, there was a lot of reluctance to support Kamala Harris. There was a lot of reluctance to support me when I got the nomination. So it can’t be a one-way street,” Clinton added.
Clinton also expressed concern that Trump’s plan to brand Democrats as communists because candidates like El-Sayed are winning primaries will land with voters and cost Democrats the election.
“And the real fight will be how we make sure that people who voted for Haley feel comfortable voting for Abdul El-Sayed, and how do we get Independents to feel comfortable? And you can see that it’s not just about Michigan, but the Republican messaging is communist, socialist. It’s going to be a very effective attack,” Clinton added.
Clinton worried Democrats wouldn’t be prepared to respond to Trump slamming their candidates as communists since polling showed it would be an effective message.
“People on the left have to be prepared to answer that and be effective in answering that,” Clinton continued.
“All I know is that is the attack Trump is leading with… I assume they have reason to believe it’s effective or they wouldn’t be beating the drum on it,’ Clinton remarked.
“They are trying to bring back scare tactics about our candidates,” Clinton concluded.
Republicans point to the DSA’s platform to contend that attacking Democrats as communists will work since the DSA supports government seizing businesses and abolishing the Senate, the presidency, and the Supreme Court.