Poll: Four in Ten Americans Are Accepting Some Form of Socialism

Democratic Socialists of America march in downtown Berkeley, Calif., on Aug. 5, 2018. Amy Osborne/AFP/Getty Images

Over 40 percent of Americans say socialism would be a good thing for the United States, which is an alarming increase since 1942, according to a new Gallup poll.

The polling data, released on May 20, has shown a shift in attitude toward socialism as Democratic socialist candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) become more popular among Americans. The data found that while 51 percent of Americans say socialism is a bad thing, 43 percent believe it would be a good thing.

This is an 18 percentage point increase since 1942, where 40 percent of Americans thought socialism was a bad thing, while 25 percent believed it was a good thing, according to the Roper/Fortune survey, as noted by Gallup.

The survey, which was conducted between April 17 and 30, also found that a majority of Democrats currently favor socialism more than capitalism. Now only 47 percent of Democrats view capitalism favorably, which is down from 56 percent in 2016, according to Fox News.

Moreover, it also found that 47 percent of Americans would vote for a presidential candidate who is socialist, a number which has remained the same since 2015.

This comes as several Democratic presidential candidates are openly pushing for socialist policies as their leading agenda in the 2020 race.

As part of his campaign, Sanders is promoting a range of socialist policies like “Medicare for All,” the “Green New Deal,” free college tuition, and the $15 minimum wage. These policies are being endorsed by other Democratic candidates including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Trump Communications Director Tim Murtaugh has described the Democratic field of candidates as “one big socialist organism with 22 heads,” which was later changed to “one big socialist organism with 23 heads” when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his presidential bid.

President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and many prominent conservative speakers have repeatedly warned about the rise of socialism. Moreover, Trump, a fiery critic of socialism and communism, has previously vowed that America will never become a socialist country.

“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” Trump said during the annual State of the Union address in February. “America was founded on liberty and independence–not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free.”

“We renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country,” he added.

US President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 5, 2019. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Other prominent figures also called out Democrats push for socialist policies at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference back in February.

Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s former deputy assistant, warned that socialism’s encroachment on the United States is becoming a huge threat.

“But you know what the biggest threat to America is? Not socialism in Moscow,” Gorka said. “[It’s] socialism here in America.”

He said that 52 percent of millennials have positive views about socialism and communism in America, citing statistics from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. He added that communism is taking over America under the guise of Democratic socialism.

Socialism, which is taking the form of progressivism in the United States, is an initial stage to communism and has infiltrated itself into U.S. politics, higher education, and culture, according to The Epoch Times series How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World.

The Epoch Times reporter Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.