Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) on Thursday dismissed the notion that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are taking over the Democratic Party, arguing the group represents only a small slice of the party’s overall makeup.
Appearing on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends, Moskowitz was asked about a string of recent primary wins by DSA-backed candidates in New York City, Philadelphia, Michigan, and Florida. Co-host Brian Kilmeade ticked off the names: two winners in New York City, Chris Rapp in Philadelphia, El Sayed winning a Michigan Senate seat, and another candidate who just won a Florida Senate primary to challenge Republican Ashley Moody.
Kilmeade asked directly: “Does it disturb you the direction of the party right now?”
Moskowitz pushed back with a numbers-based answer. “Well, I mean, here’s what I would say. If you look at the amount of members that are coming to the House that are DSA, it’s five percent,” he said. “They’re not the Democratic Party.”
The Florida Democrat acknowledged that Democratic voters are frustrated after the last election and “what happened over the last 18 months,” but he warned against embracing a movement whose platform includes positions like “no prisons, no borders” and even eliminating the Senate.
“That doesn’t mean we should start embracing things or a movement that in their platform says, you know, no prisons, no borders. Oh, we’re going to get rid of the Senate, by the way. Just Article one of the Article one of the Constitution,” Moskowitz said, apparently referring to the Senate’s constitutional basis in Article One of the U.S. Constitution.
Primary wins spark party soul-searching
The comments come as establishment Democrats grapple with a string of primary defeats at the hands of left-wing insurgents. While the DSA has not released an official membership count or a formal list of current House members it considers part of its caucus, Moskowitz’s five-percent figure suggests the group’s footprint in Congress remains relatively small compared with the media attention its primary wins draw.
Moskowitz, a moderate Democrat who has frequently clashed with the party’s progressive wing, did not name the Florida winner directly, but the reference to a Senate primary against Ashley Moody is the same race where, in this scenario, a DSA-backed candidate would be running in the general election.
The broader tension Moskowitz pointed to — the gap between DSA’s small numbers in Washington and its growing influence in key local races — is likely to continue as the party heads into the general election season.
Moskowitz’s remarks reflect a party still sorting out its identity after the previous cycle. He acknowledged Democrats’ frustration but urged caution about who the party decides to elevate.
“Democrats are upset about what happened in the last election. They have every right and they’re upset what happened over the last 18 months,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we should start embracing things or a movement that in their platform says, you know, no prisons, no borders.”
The DSA’s national platform has indeed called for abolishing prisons and the Border Patrol, as well as eliminating the Senate, positions that Moskowitz called extreme and out of step with the broader Democratic electorate.
What’s next
With primaries still unfolding, the question of how much influence DSA-backed candidates wield in November remains an open one. Moskowitz’s comments suggest that, at least for now, he sees the group as a loud minority rather than a decisive force within the party.
“They’re not the Democratic Party,” he said. “But I think the Democratic Party needs to step up and speak out.”
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/20/dem-rep-moskowitz-says-dsa-only-5-of-dems-theyre-not-the-democratic-party/