Meet the Marxist Factions Leading the DSA
President Donald Trump ignited another political firestorm this week after warning that a wave of Democratic Socialist victories in New York City’s primary elections represents more than a shift in local politics.
“They’re hardcore Godless communists,” Trump said, arguing that the movement poses a growing threat to the country.
The remarks were quickly challenged by media figures, including CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, who argued on-air that democratic socialism and communism are not the same thing.
That distinction has become the center of a much larger debate.
While many elected Democrats who identify as democratic socialists reject the communist label, critics point to the internal leadership of the Democratic Socialists of America, where several influential caucuses openly describe themselves as Marxist or Marxist-Leninist and publicly advocate replacing capitalism with socialism and, ultimately, communism.
The DSA itself is a broad organization with more than 100,000 members and numerous ideological factions ranging from reform-minded democratic socialists to revolutionary Marxist groups. Its governing body, the 25-member National Political Committee, is elected every two years and includes members affiliated with multiple caucuses.
Among the most closely watched is the Red Star caucus.
On its official website, Red Star describes itself as a “revolutionary Marxist-Leninist caucus” whose “primary goal” is “to abolish capitalism and, ultimately, to achieve communism.” The group further argues that capitalism “must be overthrown and replaced,” rather than gradually reformed.
The caucus also embraces the concept of building a “vanguard party,” a term rooted in the political philosophy of Soviet revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, who argued that a disciplined revolutionary organization was necessary to lead workers toward socialist revolution. Red Star publications continue to reference Lenin’s writings and revolutionary strategy as influential to their political outlook.
Current DSA co-chair Megan Romer has been publicly endorsed by the Red Star caucus, which praised her work and referred to her as “a communist” in campaign materials supporting her re-election within the organization.
Red Star is not the only caucus promoting explicitly Marxist ideas.
The Marxist Unity Group identifies itself as a faction dedicated to uniting Marxists within the DSA around a shared revolutionary vision, while Bread & Roses describes its politics through a Marxist understanding of capitalism and advocates extensive restructuring of economic and political institutions.
The prominence of these caucuses has increased in recent years. Following successive DSA conventions, observers across the political spectrum have noted that revolutionary socialist factions now wield substantially greater influence over the organization’s leadership than they did a decade ago.
The controversy has intensified because several newly elected New York City candidates, including mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, are members of the DSA. Mamdani has campaigned on an ambitious progressive platform that includes expanded public services, stronger labor protections, and sweeping housing reforms. His critics argue those proposals reflect a broader ideological shift within the organization, while supporters contend they are examples of democratic socialist policy rather than communist governance.
That disagreement helps explain why Trump’s comments have generated such intense debate.
For supporters of the president, the public statements made by influential DSA caucuses validate concerns that communist ideology has gained a foothold inside one of the nation’s fastest-growing left-wing organizations.
For defenders of the DSA, however, the existence of revolutionary caucuses does not mean every member, candidate, or elected official shares those beliefs, pointing out that the organization has long described itself as a coalition of differing socialist traditions rather than a single ideological movement.
As New York’s election results continue to draw national attention, the argument over whether democratic socialism represents mainstream progressive politics or a stepping stone toward revolutionary socialism appears likely to remain at the center of America’s political conversation.