Democratic socialism is having a political moment. Fresh off the victories of three socialist-backed candidates in New York’s Democratic primaries, the movement is already setting its sights beyond the state, with democratic socialist Melat Kiros recently winning her primary in Colorado. Meanwhile, the Democratic Socialists of America has grown from roughly 8,000 members in 2016 to more than 100,000 members today. As the movement continues to grow, so too has the debate surrounding it. President Trump has repeatedly accused democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani of being a communist – a charge Mamdani has repeatedly and unequivocally rejected. Much of the media has also rejected the comparison. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins argued that Trump was incorrectly conflating democratic socialism with commun