Socialism

Socialist Influencer Hasan Piker Is Praising Mao. Here's the Truth About Chinese Communism.

Hasan Piker and the Democratic Socialists of America are recycling failed ideas.

Robby Soave | 7.21.2026 5:33 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google

Media Contact & Reprint Requests

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are having a moment: Candidates affiliated with this group are winning Democratic primaries all over the country—and that's bad. Very, very bad. Why? Well, because their ideas for how to run the country are wrong, and dangerous, and in many cases authoritarian. We know that because we can read their plans and listen to their speeches.

Now, I know what you're thinking: Don't Republicans call everybody who disagrees with President Donald Trump a socialist? Sure, that label as an insult has been overused before. But these people self-describe as socialists and communists—and they revere figures and governments from history that engaged in actual authoritarian communism.

Take Hasan Piker, a popular far-left commentator associated with the DSA. He recently spoke at a gathering of College Democrats and explained his plan to drive all the nonsocialists out of the Democratic Party:

Dressed like Mao and talking about how much he hates the majority of Democrats as an invited guest of @CollegeDems. Our party having a normal one. pic.twitter.com/y1QDuF7I9Q

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 19, 2026

You might have some questions about that, including, uh,........

© Reason.com