A former Biden White House aide says the Democratic Socialists of America will be pushed to the margins of the party by the time the 2028 presidential race takes shape, even as socialist-aligned candidates rack up primary wins in New York and Michigan.
Yemisi Egbewole, a senior fellow at the centrist think tank Third Way and a Democratic strategist, made the prediction Wednesday on “The Fifth Column” podcast, hosted by Kmele Foster and Michael Moynihan. Asked whether the Democratic Party was drifting toward DSA ideology, Egbewole said no.
“Going into 2028, the DSA… baby gets put in a corner,” Egbewole said.
She added: “Anybody running to represent America is not going to seek anybody who’s a part of the DSA.”
Primary wins questioned
Egbewole’s comments come after a string of victories by candidates aligned with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In June, three Mamdani-backed candidates won Democratic congressional primaries in New York: Brad Lander unseated Rep. Dan Goldman, Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated Rep. Adriano Espaillat, and Claire Valdez won an open seat.
Egbewole argued those wins don’t prove the DSA has broad national support, saying beating an established Democrat isn’t the same as beating a moderate.
“I’m okay with admitting they did well,” she said. “They won their races. They didn’t really defeat moderates . . . Dan Goldman wasn’t a moderate.”
In Michigan, progressive Abdul El-Sayed defeated moderate Rep. Haley Stevens in August’s Democratic primary. Egbewole set a high bar for what she’d consider a meaningful win there too, saying, “I say if it’s anything less than like five points, then it doesn’t count.”
Third Way’s campaign
Egbewole’s employer, Third Way, has launched a $15 million campaign through 2028 aimed at limiting the DSA’s influence within the Democratic Party, including opposition research, polling and outreach to party leaders.
Third Way co-founder Matt Bennett has said the organization views the socialist movement as an electoral liability. “We believe the DSA poses a serious threat to Democrats,” Bennett said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Their ideas are dangerous, and their politics are toxic. If we are to beat MAGA Republicans, we cannot allow our party to be defined by radicals.”
Pushback from both sides
Republicans dismissed the idea that Democrats could distance themselves from the socialist label before 2028. RNC national press secretary Natalie Baldassarre said in a statement to Fox News Digital: “It’s too late for Democrats to rewrite their socialist brand. They’ve embraced socialism with open arms, and every 2028 Democrat contender is a tax-hiking, open border radical who will eagerly bend over for the far-left base.”
Curtis Houck, managing editor of the conservative media watchdog NewsBusters, was similarly skeptical of Egbewole’s prediction. “The train seems to have left the station,” he told Fox News Digital. “The liberal, elitist media are deathly terrified of their base voters. The red-green alliance is a tidal wave the press sure don’t seem interested in litigating. They will either downplay the aims of DSA, or ignore them. Neither seems to be a winning strategy.”
DSA co-chair Megan Romer defended the group’s trajectory in an August statement responding to Third Way’s campaign. “We believe in people power, and our vision for a better future is winning. We will keep building our movement, and they will waste their money,” Romer said.
Divisions among prominent Democrats
The ideological split has reached Democrats weighing 2028 bids. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in September that Democrats were “pretty aligned” with the DSA on issues including universal healthcare and climate change.
At the same time, Mamdani has faced pressure from socialist allies over his own governing choices. He said Thursday he has no plans to remove NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, despite calls from the DSA’s New York City chapter for her ouster following an ICE-involved shooting in the Bronx.
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