House Democrat pushes back on ‘nutty stuff’ some in DSA support

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) on Wednesday pushed back on some of the policy proposals included in the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) platform, calling it “nutty stuff.”

Ivey said in an interview with NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill” that he thinks it will be “interesting” to see “what part of DSA these guys actually are.” He later added that there is “the other part of it out there, too.”

“I saw the president of the DSA talking about, you know, eliminating prisons and, you know, eliminating the Senate,” he said. “And I just think that’s kind of nutty stuff that, you know, really, I’m not going to support. And I don’t think any voters anywhere will.”

He said that new DSA-aligned members of Congress should go to Washington to see what “they stand for and what they want to do” while working within the Democratic caucus.

“I think that they’re, you know, people, especially those who’ve already been state legislators, they sound like they’re, you know, focused on affordability, making sure that we can help people, you know, put food on the table, you know, pay for ga, get health care coverage, the things that House Democrats are already focused on,” Ivey told Burman.

Burman asked Ivey about the issues DSA members campaign on, to which Ivey said that he only saw the resurfaced remarks from former Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong (D) calling to “ cancel Thanksgiving ,” which she later walked back . Ivey said this issue was the “craziest” he had seen.

“The ones that I’ve seen so far are on the affordability message and focus on the things that voters really care about,” Ivey added.

Democratic candidates aligned with DSA have led a rising tide of primary victories against many more moderate, establishment Democrats. The victories have laid bare the divisions within the Democratic Party, particularly over issues like the cost of living and U.S. support for Israel, but some incumbents have argued that their party’s “big tent” allows for a diversity of opinions.

Some lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), have not dismissed the DSA’s impact in supporting candidates, though he said he “ certainly isn’t seeking ” their endorsement.

But Democrats who have warded off DSA challenges have pushed back against the “big tent” narrative, including Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who won his recent primary against Oliver Larkin earlier this month.

Moskowitz told Fox Business Network that Democrats will have to see if new DSA-aligned members can “coexist” with them, but “they can’t coexist with me .”

Candidates affiliated with the left-wing organization have won primaries in states like New York , Florida and Pennsylvania , with some advancing to runoff races in cities like Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles . Other candidates like Hong and Larkin failed to win votes at the polls.