Rahm Emanuel just told his own party's rising faction to get out. Not quietly, not through a leaked memo, but on national television. I’d love to take him seriously, but it’s easy to see through what’s really happening here. This year is a key opportunity for Democrats to retake the majority and grind President Donald Trump’s agenda to a halt for his remaining two years in office. But, Democrats are struggling right now because playing defense this campaign season over the rise of socialism in their ranks complicates their general election messaging.
Candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have already ousted establishment Democrats in primaries, and the number of avowed socialists heading to Congress will likely grow this year. We’ve pointed out that polls show socialism remains deeply unpopular outside the Democrat Party, which is why establishment Democrats are scrambling to distance themselves from their socialist wing.
Emanuel made the challenge Sunday on Fox News Sunday, in an interview with host Shannon Bream, as Democrats struggle to control their own message. And, let me assure you, he isn't some squeamish moderate. He's a former U.S. representative, a former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, a former mayor of Chicago, and a former U.S. ambassador to Japan under President Joe Biden.
He's establishment through and through, and pragmatic enough to understand what his party's leadership won't say out loud: the Democratic Socialists of America brand, welded to the Democrat Party, is toxic.
Bream asked Emanuel to respond to commentator Hasan Piker, who argues that the Democrat Party has failed Americans and that self-described socialists offer a better way forward. She noted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) aligns with that faction, quoting him directly. "People are sick and tired of the Rahm Emanuels," Sanders has said. "They say the energy is not with the people of the past, it's moving forward with socialism."
Emanuel didn't hesitate. "I don't consider democratic socialists to be part of the Democrat Party," he told Bream. "About four weeks ago, they had a convention in Chicago, a separate party; they believe in defunding the police, letting prisoners out of prisons, opening the borders, eliminating the Pentagon. If you're so confident that people want that, I'll see you in November. Put it on the ballot. Let's go. Run, as a separate party. The Democrat Party's not open to being taken over. Now you have a progressive wing and a pragmatic wing."
WATCH: Former Chief of Staff to President Obama and potential 2028 candidate @RahmEmanuel weighs in on DSA: "I don't consider Democratic Socialists part of the Democratic Party... go run as a separate party. The Democratic Party is not open to be taking over now." pic.twitter.com/bbpNlmRKUx
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) August 30, 2026
Really? Defunding the police. Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah, this is what Democrats were calling for years ago! But sure, let’s pretend that it's just a rogue faction of the Democrat Party talking about this.
So, let's not pretend the establishment's problem with the DSA is ideological. There's barely any daylight between how a DSA Democrat and a mainstream Democrat would actually govern in office. The disagreement is over what they're willing to admit to voters before an election. Democrats have spent years running to the middle in general election campaigns and governing as radicals once they win. The DSA insurgency keeps that same governing agenda. It just refuses to hide it during the campaign. That's an election strategy, plain and simple.
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As for the DSA running on its own ballot line, it’s already figured out that this is a losing strategy. Its leaders understand that the only realistic path into the American political system runs through the Democrat Party's ballot line, its fundraising infrastructure, and its built-in primary electorate. Building a viable third party from scratch, with no ballot access in most states and no institutional muscle behind it, is a losing proposition, and the DSA knows it.
And trust me, Emanuel doesn’t want it either. Why? Because a real socialist split would divide the left-of-center vote and hand Republicans a durable majority in Congress for as long as far-left candidates kept running and their most devoted backers kept showing up for them.
Democratic socialists are the base of the Democrat Party now, and in primary politics, the base holds the power. It decides which candidates face Republicans in November, leaving the establishment stuck backing nominees too radical for general election voters.
So spare us the framing where the DSA is the fringe and the Democrat Party is a sensible, left-of-center outfit trying to rein it in. That's the story Emanuel wants Americans to believe. It’s a convenient narrative for a party that would rather campaign as moderates than admit what it actually plans to do in office.
