David Jenkins, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America's National Political Committee — the organization's highest governing body — sat on a Zoom call and said six words that were never supposed to leave the room: "Our goal is liberation. Our goal is communism."
The clip, compiled by citizen journalist Stu Smith back in April 2026, has resurfaced across conservative media this week. And now we all get to watch the scramble.
Pat Gray highlighted the footage on "Pat Gray Unleashed" on Blaze Media, noting what conservatives have argued for decades: the labels change, the goal doesn't. "Democratic socialist" replaced "socialist" because "socialist" polled badly. "Progressive" replaced "liberal" for the same reason. Jenkins just accidentally confirmed the final destination that all those rebrandings were designed to hide.
The compilation doesn't stop at one damning quote, either. Jenkins also called to defund the police at a New York City budget hearing, openly aligned himself with Marxism, and admitted he attended the January 6th protests as a "counterprotester." This isn't a fringe member. He sits on the national leadership that functions as the DSA's board of directors.
The DSA currently claims more than 116,000 members. Its endorsed candidates hold offices from New York City, where DSA-backed Zohran Mamdani won the mayor's race, to Los Angeles, where Nithya Raman holds a council seat. Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York carry DSA endorsements in Congress.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins tried to draw a firewall between the DSA and its own leader's words. "Socialism, much less democratic socialism, is not communism," Collins told her audience. That line might have held up if Jenkins hadn't already torched it on camera.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison offered what may be 2026's most creative defense of socialism in an interview with CNN opinion writer Dean Obeidallah. "You don't contract for your own private police department, or fire department, or water inspection, or public works!" Ellison argued, apparently defining every tax-funded service since ancient Rome as socialism.
Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota responded: "This might be the DUMBEST statement I've heard from the leftists in Minnesota." Critics were quick to note that Ellison's equation of policing with socialism was particularly rich coming from a man who supported the defund-the-police movement.
A Pew Research poll found that 38 percent of Americans view democratic socialist leaders unfavorably while only 17 percent view them favorably. Among Democrats specifically, 32 percent hold favorable views, 11 percent unfavorable, and 56 percent remain neutral — meaning even within their own party, a majority hasn't committed to the brand.
That neutral 56 percent is the group the DSA can't afford to lose. And it's the group most likely to flinch at the word "communism." Every cycle, the playbook has been the same: run on health care and housing, govern on ideology, and hope nobody looks too closely at the platform. Jenkins broke the first rule of the operation.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington has argued that President Trump unfairly characterizes progressives by claiming they use the term "social democrat because it sounds so nice" when they really mean something further left. Trump's framing was dismissed as rhetoric. Jenkins turned it into a documentary.
The DSA's own constitution calls for a society "beyond capitalism." Their conventions feature openly Marxist caucuses. Their leader said the word "communism" into a microphone. At a certain point, believing this is all just about universal Pre-K requires more faith than believing it's about what they keep telling us it's about.
Collins said democratic socialism isn't communism. Jenkins said the goal is communism. They can't both be right, but only one of them is actually in the DSA.
