California Rep. Bera on rise of democratic socialism: ‘It’s about stopping Donald Trump’

House California Rep. Bera on rise of democratic socialism: ‘It’s about stopping Donald Trump’ Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 06/30/26 9:25 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 06/30/26 9:25 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) on Monday said the rise of democratic socialism within the Democratic Party is “about stopping Donald Trump.”

Bera told CNN’s John Berman that the Democratic Party is “a big party with lots of different ideas,” but the common goal is about unity and “putting a check on Donald Trump.

“So, while we’ll have conversations across the spectrum, we’ll wait and see when these new members get here,” Bera said. “But at the end of the day, this is about affordability. It’s about stopping Donald Trump. It’s about holding this corrupt regime accountable.”

Asked about what victories won by democratic socialists mean for the party, Bera said some Democratic incumbents in deep blue districts “have not had to run a very competitive race for a number of years.”

“If you’re running for re-election and you’ve got a primary, you’ve got to go out and run a campaign,” he continued. “You’ve got to energize your grassroots, your folks on the phones.”

New York democratic socialists saw recent wins against House incumbents after the Empire State’s primary elections last week, ousting incumbent Democratic Reps. Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (N.Y.).

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), a democratic socialist who won last year’s mayoral race, endorsed and campaigned for these new candidates who will be on November’s ballot.

The ideology has seen a rise in prominence over the past decade, at first driven by democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during his two Democratic campaigns for president in 2016 and 2020. The campaigns didn’t carry him to the nomination but did inspire campaigns for office across the country, notably Mamdani’s and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) congressional race in 2018.

Other democratic socialists running as Democrats have claimed victory in major cities across the country on the same wave.

Last year, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson (D) won against then-incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell (D). Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman will head to the general election against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass after knocking former reality TV star Spencer Pratt out of the race.

Some Democratic lawmakers have said these victories indicate voters want a change or demand holding President Trump to account. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) has said it’s both, urging Democratics to take on corporate power.

“I will say, though, what binds together, I think, every Democratic candidate that is running, including the ones in New York, is that they are standing up to protect American democracy,” Murphy said on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has been outspoken in slamming these recent victories, pointing out these candidates’ vocal criticism of Israel and its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

“And now this has just become — really, it’s just been the dancing days of the dirtbag left,” Fetterman told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “You know, some of these candidates are outrageous. You have candidates, they’re ‘abolish ICE,’ ‘abolish the police,’ ‘abolish the border.'”