The Democratic Party likes to pretend that sober, seasoned leaders in Washington still govern it. But pull back the curtain and you’ll find the radicals calling the shots, with establishment figures trembling in silence. What was once the “mainstream wing” has become little more than an echo chamber: afraid of its own base, terrified of standing on principle.
That’s exactly the dynamic Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) torched in an interview with Sean Hannity, skewering Democrats for surrendering to the far-left instead of leading with backbone. In his trademark blunt, humorous style, Kennedy argued that America’s failure to teach younger generations about the brutal history of communism has left the country wide open to radicals, and today’s Democrats are far too afraid to stop them.
“How did we get here?” Kennedy asked. “Well, we stopped teaching our kids about the Cold War and Stalin’s death camps in communist Soviet Union, and the fact that Mao in communist China killed tens of millions of people. But also because the mainstream wing of the party is scared to death of the moon wing. They won’t speak up, and they don’t stand for anything anymore. All they stand for is whatever is against whatever President Trump stands for.”
Kennedy said this dynamic has created a bizarre situation where establishment Democrats now embrace policies that are indefensible simply because Trump takes the opposite side.
“That’s why we find ourselves in the extraordinary position of mainstream Democrats have now come out firmly and passionately in favor of crime in Washington, D.C.,” Kennedy explained. “Why? Because Trump is trying to do something about it.”
How did socialists rise to power in the Democratic Party?
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) August 19, 2025
It’s because we stopped teaching our kids about the Soviet Union and Mao Zedong—and because mainstream Democrats are scared to death of standing up to the far left. pic.twitter.com/kAHzVyEsd4
This is not the first time Kennedy skewered the Democratic Party for letting its “loon wing” run the show. Kennedy accused the so-called “mainstream wing” of the Democratic Party of being too petrified of its own activists to take a stand. He boiled down their entire philosophy to one thing: if Donald Trump is for it, they’re against it, no matter how absurd or destructive that position turns out to be.
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That fear is so profound, Kennedy argued, that top leaders like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have surrendered their authority to the radicals. And in one of those classic one-liners he’s famous for, Kennedy flatly declared that if they want to prove they’re capable of leadership, they “need to go to Amazon, buy some testicles” and actually stand up to the fringe.
Kennedy went further, singling out socialist members of Congress who have proudly embraced policies ranging from soft-on-crime insanity to failed economic ideas. And yet, from Schumer to Jeffries to the rest of the so-called establishment, Kennedy noted that not a single one has dared to denounce the extreme policies of rising stars in the party like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) or NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The silence is deafening, and it tells you all you need to know about who really holds the reins of power inside the Democratic caucus.
Kennedy’s point is impossible to miss: supposed "mainstream" figures aren't leading the Democratic Party; the loudest and most radical voices in the room are dragging it along. The refusal to confront the far left, whether out of fear or political expedience, has hollowed out the party’s spine and left it defined only by its opposition to Trump. That’s why Democrats now defend the indefensible, from rising crime to failed socialist schemes, while leaders like Schumer and Jeffries hide in silence. Kennedy’s warning is blunt but accurate: a party that governs by fear of its fringe is a party unfit to lead.
