Hillary Clinton to Democrats: GOP’s ‘Communist’ Attack on Progressives Will Be ‘Very Effective’

Hillary Clinton is sounding the alarm for the Democratic Party, cautioning that Republican efforts to brand progressive candidates as “communists” and “socialists” could prove effective in the upcoming midterm elections — and that Democrats need to get their house in order to fight back. Speaking on Kara Swisher’s “Pivot” podcast on Friday, Ms. Clinton addressed the narrow Senate primary victory of progressive Abdul El-Sayed over moderate Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan. While she acknowledged the win, Ms. Clinton stressed that Dr. El-Sayed now faces a steep climb to unite the Democratic coalition ahead of the general election against his Republican challenger Mike Rogers.“The real fight will be how do 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?” Ms. Clinton said. “The Republican messaging is communist, socialist. It’s going to be a very effective attack.”When pressed by Ms. Swisher on whether the “communist” label still carries weight in 2026, Ms. Clinton didn’t back down. “All I know is that is the attack Trump is leading with, and I assume they’ve tested that, and I assume they have reason to believe it’s effective or they wouldn’t be beating the drum on it,” she said.One method to blunt the efficacy of such charges: the star power of President Obama. Dr. El-Sayed said Sunday that he hoped the president would appear on the campaign trail with him. The two had a “warm and inspiring” conversation over the weekend, Dr. El-Sayed said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”“I know that he knows the critical role that Michigan is going to play in holding Trump accountable and winning back the Senate,” he said, adding that “his presence here in Michigan would mean so much to the coalition that helped elect him so I hope we get to campaign together.” Dr. El-Sayed declined to say whether socialist political commentator, Hasan Piker, who campaigned with him during the primary season, would also join him on the general election trail. He did acknowledge, however, Mr. Piker’s broad following.“The three million people who listen to Hasan are people I want to make sure understand there is a pathway into our politics,” he said, adding, “I’m going to continue to have the conversations with the folks we desperately need to reach out to.”Even before the final tally was out after Tuesday’s Michigan election, President Trump appeared gleeful by Dr. El-Sayed’s victory, calling it “great news” for the GOP. “El-Sayed, a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel, is the projected winner in his race with the Socialist,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Now, the Dumocrats crazy policies will only get worse!”In a speech last week at Las Vegas’s Red Rocks Resort, the president called Dr. E-Sayed “a communist loser” who had beaten a mere “socialist” despite having a “heart full of hate.” He expanded on the topic, saying, “Democrat communists claim to stand for working people” while hiding darker truths. “What they don’t say — and what Republicans should say — is that at the end of a year, you’ll have nothing but death, squalor, poverty.”In his speech, Mr. Trump also called communism “the greatest threat to our country in its history — including even World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, 9/11.”“I could be the greatest communist in history,” Mr. Trump said. “I tell everybody, ‘Here, would you like a free house? We’ll take one from your neighbor! Would you like free rent? We’ll take it from whoever.’” Elect communists, Mr. Trump said, and Americans will “have a life of hell, and that’s what happens every single time.”Ms. Clinton pointed out that the attacks aren’t limited to Mr. Trump, noting Vice President Vance has done the same thing. “Vance has done it. Others are doing it. They are trying to bring back scare tactics about our candidates,” she said — though she noted the strategy didn’t stop New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, from winning his race despite heavy opposition spending in the deep blue city.Ms. Clinton took aim at internal Democratic divisions, warning that progressive voters have repeatedly failed to rally behind establishment nominees after primary losses. “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,” she said.Ms. Clinton urged the party to unify: “We’re not going to beat Republicans by being divided.” Dr. El-Sayed concurred. “Our differences are smaller than what we agree on, that Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy,” Dr. El-Sayed said, adding that Mr. Rogers would be a rubber stamp to the president’s foreign and economic policies.Several candidates endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America are running in competitive races for Congress this cycle, including Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania, who advocates for Medicare for all, abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and a permanent Israel-Palestine ceasefire.A Florida candidate, Oliver Larkin, is pushing a $25 minimum wage, while a candidate in Michigan, Donovan McKinney, is running on a platform of taxing billionaires and enacting the Green New Deal, estimated to cost $5 trillion to $10 trillion. The next test of socialist strength will be in Wisconsin, where Assemblywoman Francesca Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, leads a field of Democrats seeking the party’s nomination to run for governor.

Hillary Clinton to Democrats: GOP’s ‘Communist’ Attack on Progressives Will Be ‘Very Effective’

Hillary Clinton to Democrats: GOP’s ‘Communist’ Attack on Progressives Will Be ‘Very Effective’

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