As we've watched the conversations and debates play out on "democratic socialism" over the last couple of months, one thing that has stuck in my mind is the role Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has played in the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Because Sanders has always caucused with Democrats in his time in the House and Senate, many people - those who aren't political junkies, anyway - have assumed he's a registered Democrat. But in reality, he was pretty much born a socialist and has been a registered independent for most of his political life, outside of when he was a member of obscure socialism-themed parties that are no longer in existence.
He was also able to (unsuccessfully) run for president on the Democrat Party brand in 2016 and 2020, and signed a "loyalty pledge" in 2020 that affirmed he would run and govern as a Democrat if elected. But at the same time he filed to run for president in 2019 as a Democrat, he also filed to run for reelection to the Senate in 2024 - as an independent.
SEE ALSO: The Democrat Spin on DSA Takeover Takes Shape—But It Raises Two Questions They Can't Escape
The Democrat Party has always been a vessel for Sanders to use to advance the cause of socialism, brick by brick, issue by issue, in part because the Democrat Party's platform even back in the 1970s and 80s, when Sanders came onto the scene, skewed much closer to the socialist worldview than did the Republican Party's. They were a means to an end for Sanders, and he set off on pursuing a radical transformation of it with vigor.
With Sanders being among those leading the charge, the party has been dragged even further to the left over the decades he's been in office, to where we see it in its current form, with an increasing number of Democrats joining the extremist DSA bandwagon if not in spirit than in actual membership, and a minority of Democrats, like Sen John Fetterman (D-PA) increasingly feeling put out and disgusted by the ultra left direction they've taken under Sanders' mindful watch.
Sanders, who is the most powerful DSA member in Congress, has made it a point in every election cycle to endorse socialistic candidates and those who are actual members of the DSA, like Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Melat Kiros from Colorado's 1st Congressional District, who in late June easily defeated a longtime incumbent in the primary and who likely will go on to serve in the House as a Democrat.
All of them are registered Democrats and big fans of Sanders - and they're also proud DSA members who, like Sanders, are using the Democrat Party as a vessel to spread the socialist message in a way that they think makes them and it "relatable" to common folks.
So it was kinda fascinating and yet revealing to me to see Sanders sit down to talk about socialism this week with the Obama Bros... and proceed to downplay the DSA's extreme policy positions - which have been recently laid out in interviews with DSA leaders, like abolishing the police, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the borders, etc.:
Bernie on DSA candidates who’ve supported abolishing/defunding police/prisons/borders:
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 5, 2026
“No serious person I know who is running for office believes in defunding the police”
“Open borders? No” pic.twitter.com/WOLAiS7FlW
Keep in mind that one of the top five most well-known DSA members in this country is Mamdani, who Sanders enthusiastically endorsed early on in 2025, and who repeatedly called for defunding the police as a woketivist and then a New York Assemblyman before it became inconvenient to his mayoral campaign.
Something else Sanders said this week is also noteworthy in the context of Democratic Socialism. As RedState readers are well aware, America-hater Hasan Piker has made himself a fixture in (and has been warmly embraced by) the campaigns of DSA or DSA-backed candidates including Mamdani, Wisconsin Democrat gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, and Michigan Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
Sanders was on CNN Tuesday night as the Michigan Senate primary results were coming in and was asked about Piker, who, among other things, has said America "deserved 9/11," endorsed and encouraged the killing of conservative public figures, and admitted he supports Hamas terrorists in the Israel-Hamas war.
While Sanders said he disagreed with the 9/11 comment, he made excuses for Hasan's despicable, violent rhetoric, boiling it down to something "dumb" he said in the course of having to stream on social media for long hours during the day, and equating it to dumb things average Americans might have said a long time ago that they now regret (note: Hasan has not expressed regret for his most incendiary remarks).
Further, he lamented that people were trying to "cancel" Piker because, in Sanders' view, Piker's hate-filled anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish message deserves to be heard and respected because so many people allegedly are interested in the "totality" of what he has to spew. There was room for him in the "big tent" Democrat Party, Sanders also stressed, without being pressed on just what part of the "totality" of Hasan's message he most agreed with.
He then advised longtime Democrat James Carville, who can't stand Piker, to proceed with finding another party if he felt that strongly about it - leaving out the fact that Sanders himself has repeatedly tried to have it both ways with party labels, siding with Democrats when it works for him and then distinguishing himself as an "independent" when it suits his purposes.
Phillip: Are you comfortable with El-Sayed having a close association with Hasan Piker?
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 5, 2026
Sanders: We have to get above cancel culture…. pic.twitter.com/3ByE3GnOZw
Phillip: When James Carville says he doesn't want to be in the same political party as Hasan Piker, which one are you going to take?
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 5, 2026
Sanders: If Mr. Carville doesn't want to be in my party, he can start his own party. pic.twitter.com/2cPtsP1ONQ
Sanders really has some nerve acting like all of this is no big deal in the scheme of things and at other points portraying it as a "good thing" for America, but then again, deception to advance the socialist agenda has always been the point for Sanders, as demonstrated during his first-class, jet-setting "Stop the Oligarchy" tour with AOC in early 2025, when it was reported that he was pushing for DSA candidates to, like him, run as "independents" instead of Democrats to try and deceive the American people into thinking they weren't too far left:
“One of the aspects of this tour is to try to rally people to get engaged in the political process and run as independents outside of the Democratic Party,” Mr. Sanders said in the interview on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of great leadership all over this country at the grass-roots level. We’ve got to bring that forward. And if we do that, we can defeat Trumpism and we can transform the political situation in America.”
RELATED: Oops: Dan Osborn Just Blew His Whole 'Independent' Act to Smithereens
He's also on record as advocating for Democrats to say one thing but mean another, as exemplified by statements he made during Kamala Harris' failed run for president in 2024.
"No, I don't think she's abandoning her [progressive] ideals. I think she's trying to be pragmatic and doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election," Sanders told NBC News Meet the Press anchor Kristen Welker at the time in response to a question about Harris flip-flopping on some of her previous political stances on issues like fracking and Medicare for All.
Sanders, meanwhile, has no interest in being "pragmatic" about the advancement of socialism. But he doesn't have to be, because he's played the long game of incremental victories for several decades as part of a mission that has paid big dividends so far in 2026.
If El-Sayed wins his purple state in November, it will be vindication for Sanders, which is another important reason why voters - in the court of public opinion - must bring the Sanders-led DSA's hopes and dreams crashing back down to earth.
