Harold Ford Jr. is, by any honest measure, the smarter liberal who joins the table on Fox News' The Five. That's not saying much when the other option is Jessica Tarlov, but hey, it’s something. Tarlov is a party booster every step of the way. She pushes Democrats' talking points blindly. Ford is far more willing to call out his party when it deserves it, which he did on Tuesday, when he admitted that Democrats will lose if they embrace the DSA’s policies.
"If we believe that the DSA, their ideas are the right ones for the country, then we're going to lose," Ford said. He pointed to last week's Wisconsin results as proof the socialist wing of the party is gaining ground it shouldn't. "We may win a few primaries, and I was delighted to see the Wisconsin outcome last week," he said, "with the young fellow Crowley coming from behind." He added that another candidate, El-Sayed, "only won by a very, very small amount," a margin Ford treated as a warning sign rather than a victory lap.
That's a devastating admission from inside the tent. Ford said Democratic voters are more focused on kitchen-table economics than revolutionary politics, and that when they realize the Democratic Socialists of America "are not for them," they'll bolt. He even agreed with strategist James Carville's blunt assessment from the night before, though Ford tried to soften it. "I won't go as far as my friend James, who used the word 'fools,'" he said. "But you are foolish if you believe these ideas are not only going to win, but are going to make the country stronger and better." He said politics should exist "to try to make the country better, Democrat and Republican alike," not to score television hits or, as he put it, be "supportive of terrorist organizations."
“If we believe the DSA and their ideas are right for the country, then WE ARE GOING TO LOSE.” @HaroldFordJr warns Democrats must reject the DSA’s far-left agenda and refocus on the economic issues voters care about, including lowering costs, cutting taxes and reducing government… pic.twitter.com/ut4F8WWEcz
— The Five (@TheFive) August 19, 2026
Ford deserves credit for saying that on Fox News, where most Democrats show up to dodge the question entirely. But here's the problem: Ford wants to build his party's alternative economic message around eliminating "all of President Trump's tariffs because they're driving up costs." That premise has a hole in it. Namely, the runaway inflation Democrats spent months promising the tariffs would trigger simply hasn't shown up.
He also complained that the president abandoned the fight to shrink the federal government. "I'm disappointed with President Trump," he said, arguing Trump should have cut the government "by 5%" to pay for tax relief, since "there's enough waste there to do it." What Ford leaves out is that his own party has fought Trump's downsizing efforts at every turn, from the courts to the Capitol, treating every eliminated program like a five-alarm fire. Blaming Trump for a fight Democrats themselves have waged is ridiculous. His ire should have been directed more at his party for opposing it.
For our VIPs: The Real Reason James Carville Called Democratic Socialists ‘a Pack of Fools’
Still, the tariff blind spot and the government-waste denial don't erase the core of what Ford got right. The Democrat Party has let a small, loud, ideologically rigid faction set the terms of its future, and the voters who actually decide elections are noticing.
Meanwhile, Tarlov has been out there insisting that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) counts as a moderate.
Jessica Tarlov claims AOC now is a "Moderate Dem" as compared to the "core DSA wing."
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 10, 2026
Scott Galloway agrees that this is a "fair point."
AOC is a member of NYC DSA.
The gaslighting levels coming in an attempt to rebrand AOC for 2028 are going to be stratospheric. pic.twitter.com/AYypbHSeZu
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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