Which politicians Americans say are socialists

Which politicians do Americans believe are socialists? This week's Economist / YouGov Poll finds that out of eight politicians associated with the Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders is the politician Americans are most likely to identify as a socialist (55% do), followed closely by Zohran Mamdani at 51% and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 45%. Fewer say the same about Barack Obama (27%), Kamala Harris (27%), Elizabeth Warren (25%), Joe Biden (23%), and Gavin Newsom (20%).

Conservatives are much more likely than liberals to describe every politician listed as a socialist. For example, only 27% of people who identify as very liberal believe Obama is a socialist but 58% of those who are very conservative identify him as a socialist.

Democrats are not the only politicians Americans associate with socialism. In an earlier open-ended question we asked Americans to tell us in their own words which politicians they think are socialists, and the person named as a socialist second most often, after Mamdani, is Donald Trump. Trump's name came up primarily among Democrats.

The survey also asked more broadly about the potential threat of communism. While only 18% of Americans overall believe that communists in the U.S. pose a major threat to the country today, that number is three times as high (52%) among those who identify as very conservative. Far fewer Americans who are liberal (5%) or very liberal (6%) believe communists pose a major threat.

Image: Getty (Andres Kudacki / Stringer)

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