Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

---

Socialist candidates are defeating establishment Democrats in major cities and congressional primaries. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei argues party leaders may be underestimating how far the movement could spread.

He breaks down the six stages that transformed the Republican Party under Donald Trump, from recoil and rationalization to submission and purging, and explains which warning signs could show Democrats following a similar path.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Is socialism transforming the Democratic Party?
0:20 - Why Jim thinks this is a real political movement
0:54 - The progressive Tea Party
1:16 - How Trump remade the Republican Party
2:31 - The six stages of political surrender
2:36 - Stage one: Recoil
3:05 - Stage two: Squint
3:17 - Stage three: Rationalization
4:00 - Stage four: Submission
4:35 - Stage five: Amplification
4:58 - Stage six: Purging
5:45 - Where Democrats are right now
6:25 - The victories that could change the party
7:13 - What could stop the socialist movement
7:46 - The left’s media disadvantage
8:48 - The two signs to watch next