Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said democratic socialism is “very much” becoming more mainstream in the Democratic Party. In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Jayapal said if the Democratic Party is going to be a Big Tent party, and there is room for people who disagree with progressives, then there must be room for progressives. <\/p>\n
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: My Democratic source tonight is Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington State and the chair of the Progressive Caucus. I just first want to ask you to respond to what President Trump said. His quote was, they use the word social democrat because it sounds so nice, but it’s really communism you’re talking about. REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): I mean, he is ridiculous. But the reason he’s using communism is because he knows socialism is really popular. So he’s trying to turn this into communism when he knows that the ideas that social democrats are running on, that progressives are running on, universal health care, universal child care, making sure that people get paid higher wages, those are incredibly popular. So he’s trying to attach an ideology to it, a label that isn’t correct, because he knows that at the end of the day, these folks are going to make sure that his wealthy billionaire buddies pay their fair share of taxes and that it benefits working people. COLLINS: But there are House Democrats who seem worried about this as well. Tom Suozzi said, quote, we are capitalists, not socialists. Excuse me. What do you think these wins mean for the Tom Suozzi’s, the more moderate establishment Democrats of your party? JAYAPAL: Well, look, I think we’re always told as progressives that we’re a big tent party, that there has to be room for people who don’t agree with progressives 100 percent of the time. That’s got to be true the other way as well. If we are a big tent party, we have to have both sides of the big tent included. And I think there are going to be issues where we don’t agree 100 percent of the time. But I think what Leader Jeffrey said is right. We are focused on making life better for the American people. And Democratic voters across the country are choosing people they think will stand up and fight for working people. COLLINS: But Democratic socialists used to be more of a fringe part of your party. Do you think that is changing now? Do you think it is becoming more of the mainstream of the Democratic Party? JAYAPAL: I think very much so in certain places across the country where I think you have voters who are saying, look, this system, whatever ideology you want to ascribe to it, but a system where the wealthiest get wealthier and wealth gets hoarded at the very top doesn’t work for working people. And so if you want to call that socialism, I’ll be in for something that changes that. If you want to call it progressives, I’ll be in for something that changes that. If you want to call it moderate Democrats who are going to stand up to billionaires, I’ll be in for that as well. I mean, I think you can it doesn’t have to be defined by a particular ideology. It has to be defined by what you are willing to stand up and fight for. COLLINS: You know, on the issues and what this looks like, we’ve spoken to several Democrats who have said that these progressive candidates to actually put into place the policies that they’re running on and what they’re pushing are going to need broader support to make that change happen. Here’s what a few Democrats have said. GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): I think what is important are the people who are making a lot of noise. We’re engaging in these performative politics have to now figure out how to deliver results. It’s one thing to speak in platitudes during a campaign. It’s a whole other thing to actually deliver for people who are genuinely hurting.<\/i> REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): And in our system, you can’t do anything. You can do jack when you don’t have a majority. So my hope is for these members who have been newly nominated to be the Democratic candidates likely to be members of Congress is be bold, be bold. But remember that boldness without the action that gets you a congressional majority through places like Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina is worth nothing.<\/i> COLLINS: Do they have a point? JAYAPAL: This was always something that was leveled with me when I was chair of the Progressive Caucus. I’m chair of Merida now of the Progressive Caucus. And I would always say progressives know how to govern. We have bold ideas and we create winning coalitions. That’s what we did when we passed Build Back Better in the House. And we held out and we fought for something that we thought people deserved. And I think that at the end of the day, the people who are saying I find it really insulting to say that Democratic socialists are just being making noise and that they don’t know. COLLINS: And Josh Shapiro called it performative politics, formative politics. JAYAPAL: I mean, I think you have to ask, why is it that we’ve lost so many Democratic voters in these races where Democratic socialists are winning, where progressives are winning, even in very tough swing states? It’s because they are bringing voters back who actually see somebody who’s willing to stand up and fight for them. That’s not performative politics. I think people are sick and tired of the old establishment politics that too many Democrats were part of moving forward. And they’re ready for something bolder and they’re willing to stand up and elect people who they believe are going to fight for them. At the end of the day, we’ve got to respect the voters. And if the voters, the voters are the Democratic Party. They they are the ones who elect these candidates. COLLINS: So you believe Governor Shapiro is wrong. JAYAPAL: I think he was wrong. And I think that there are a lot of very disrespectful comments that are coming from some parts of the Democratic Party that are dismissing the voters who elected these individuals. Why is it that every time a moderate wins an election, people are like, that’s the new blueprint for the Democratic Party. But if a progressive or a Democratic socialist wins, oh, the whole party’s falling to hell in a handbasket. I think we’ve got to rethink that. And we’ve got to recognize that people are angry because they have seen this country over a decade move to actually prioritize the wealthiest who are buying elections, not working people. COLLINS: Our colleagues over at KFAL found that one of the candidates who won in New York last week, Darializa Avila Chevalier, she’s running in New York 13, I believe. She repeated sympathetic references to communism, Marxist ideology, Soviet figures like Vladimir Lenin. Do you believe that complicates the argument in favor of these candidates who are Democratic socialists? JAYAPAL: I think Darializa Avila Chevalier ran a campaign that convinced the voters of her district that she would stand up and fight for them. Whatever labels you want to attach to it, whatever she said, I believe that we’ve got to understand that Big Tent means Big Tent and voters have to be respected. And so are there going to be disagreements about language she may have used? I mean, I’m not sure when that language was used. The campaign that I saw was very much about what working people want and deserve. And I think that that’s really the moment we’re in. People feel so devastated by housing prices, by the lack of child care, by the lack of health care. And they want something better and we should be bold about doing it, not attacking the voters or the candidates who won elections in Democratic primaries. COLLINS: Congresswoman Pamela Jayapal, Chair Emerita of the Progressive Caucus, thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n