Politics

Nancy Pelosi Says Democrats Don’t Support Socialism. Many Democratic Voters Say They Do

No featured image available

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to distance the Democratic Party from socialism in an interview that aired Sunday night, but polling data indicates that her view is out-of-step with Democratic voters.

“I do reject socialism as an economic system. If people have that view, that’s their view. That is not the view of the Democratic Party,” Pelosi said on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Democratic voters are much more receptive to socialism than Pelosi is, polls show.

Gallup polls the subject every year, releasing results in August. Last year’s poll found that Democratic voters viewed socialism more favorably than capitalism for the first time in Gallup’s decade-long polling on the question.

A Fox News poll in January found that 40 percent of Democrats said it would be a “good thing” for “the United States to move away from capitalism and more toward socialism,” while 34 percent said it would be a “bad thing.”

Another poll on the subject, released by GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies in February, found Democrats supported the U.S. becoming more socialist by a 77-19 percent margin.

Another Fox News poll in February found that 43 percent of Democrats had a favorable view of socialism, while 39 percent had an unfavorable view.

At the same time, that poll found, 47 percent of Democrats reported a favorable view of capitalism, while 38 percent reported an unfavorable view.

Pelosi also downplayed Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s influence during the “60 Minutes” interview. Pelosi referred to Ocasio-Cortez’s wing of the party as “like five people.”

Ocasio-Cortez is a self-described democratic socialist, as is Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has consistently led all declared candidates in the Democratic presidential primary.

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson