Van Hollen says he wouldn’t reject DSA endorsement, but ‘certainly not seeking’ one

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Sunday did not shoot down a possible endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), but the Democratic lawmaker added that he “certainly isn’t seeking it.”

“I’m not going to sort of look into all these endorsements. I’m not going to reject an endorsement by certain individuals at the DSA. But I’m certainly not seeking the endorsement from the DSA,” Van Hollen told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”

The Maryland senator added that he believed that the recent debate among Democrats about the DSA “is an effort by Republicans” attempting “to reduce, you know, the turnout for Democrats.”

“I don’t think it’s going to work, because at the end of the day what unites Democrats is economic populism, standing up for working people,” he continued.

In the last few months, democratic socialist and progressive candidates have racked up wins in Democratic primaries against more establishment and moderate candidates. Van Hollen backed one of those candidates , Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan.

Other more moderate Democratic lawmakers have bristled at the democratic socialist and progressive candidates , including Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

On Thursday, Moskowitz went after left-wing streamer Hasan Piker and DSA members, saying the two “can’t coexist with me.”

“Well, I mean, we’re going to see if we can coexist with them. I mean, they can’t coexist with me.” Moskowitz told Fox Business Network’s Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” while discussing Piker and the DSA.

”They targeted me months ago to try to take me out in a district that Trump won by nine,” he said, referring to President Trump’s 2024 win. “So, that was clear there. They weren’t interested in winning the general election in my seat. They were interested in just taking out a Democrat.”

Van Hollen on Sunday also repeated that he’s “ kicking the tires ” on a 2028 White House run, which he previously revealed on a podcast in June.