Inside the GOP’s Campaign to Stop Socialist Candidates

Communism is on the ballot this November. That’s the message coming from GOP leaders who spoke at the 2026 Republican National Committee’s Midterm Convention this week.

At the event, nearly every speaker touched on the radical Left and the socialist candidates that, they say, want communism in America.

“This is an election between common sense and communism, between America-loving patriots and hate-America extremists, between freedom and tyranny,” Majority Whip Tom Emmer said.

It’s an effective play—but also high stakes if the narrative takes root. What if the GOP gets crushed by commies?

Here’s their plan to avoid that.

When They Tell You Who They Are, Believe Them

The Democratic Socialists of America have made their priorities clear. They say they want to abolish the nuclear family, defund the police, abolish the U.S. Senate, grant mass amnesty for illegal immigrants, establish free universal health care, shut down the Department of War, and have government-run housing, ultimately leading to the fall of capitalism.

“I think most people realize what the stakes are,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told the Daily Signal. “It is really for the survival of the republic.”

“You’ve got one side of the aisle that is quite explicitly running on a platform of tearing apart our constitutional foundations, abolishing the presidency, abolishing the Senate, and defunding the military—I mean, ideas that are genuinely insane. And I think they realize that Republicans are here, and we’ve got a platform to run on,” he continued.

Donald Trump Jr. spoke with the same intensity.

“We have two competing visions battling for the soul of America: … common sense versus extremism,” he said. “Commonsense Americans believe in merit, not DEI mandates. They believe in equal opportunity, not racial preferences. We aren’t apologizing for wanting safe streets and supporting our police.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, likewise did not hold back from calling out these candidates on stage.

“When people tell you who they are, believe them,” he said. “When Hasan Piker says America deserved 9/11, believe him. When Mamdani says he wants to seize the means of production, he means it. When Abdul El-Sayed says he has an obligation to comply with Sharia law, he means it. And when James Talarico says he wants to dismantle capitalism, he means it.”

Republicans Plan to Win

With a little more than seven weeks left until the November midterm election, where Americans will get ballots with socialist candidates on them, Republicans are working to show America the true reality of socialism and its slippery slope to communism.

“It now falls to us to preserve the country that we all love,” Speaker Mike Johnson said at the convention. “It is now being attacked from within.”

Trump reminded voters on Wednesday night that America has beaten communism once before and can do it again.

We Asked the Voters What They Think

The Daily Signal asked attendees at the event what they think Republicans must do to beat the radical left and the socialist candidates they are running against.

“Number one thing to do is just bring up their own words, use their own words against them, show the people what these people believe,” one young voter from Michigan told the Daily Signal.

“William Lawrence, for instance, said things like, ‘I want to abolish the nuclear family and replace it with queer families.’ Just show these words to the American people [and] the American people won’t vote for them,” he said, referring to the race between Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Democrat William Lawrence.

Another attendee told the Daily Signal that Republicans need to teach voters about what socialism is, suggesting that some could be blinded by false promises about the policies.

“Most of the young people today don’t know what socialism is. If they just knew more about it, they’d probably be against it,” he said, adding that it means receiving everything for free and having all people under the control of the government.

“It sounds great, but it doesn’t work out if nobody can advance themselves to ever become rich. What’s the point? I like capitalism,” he concluded.

Another attendee told the Daily Signal that it comes down to getting the word out.

“Most people left of center that I know get one source of information and they just tune it out again. If you sit down and have a conversation with them, a lot of times it opens them up a little. It’s not going to be an instant thing, but you know, their side would be a revolution. That’s not our way of doing things,” she suggested.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., noted earlier in the day that Charlie Kirk was one of the first young leaders to call out democratic socialists. One of the first slogans of his organization, Turning Point USA, was “Socialism Sucks.”

“We need to be getting out and voting and making sure that these crazy ideas don’t get into office,” the female conventiongoer continued. “That’s a problem. They start out as ideas and teaching kids, and then they run for office, and next thing you know, you have socialism, and it just doesn’t work,”

A spokeswoman for Students for Life Action who also attended the event told the Daily Signal said that it’s important to highlight the radical abortion policies these candidates are pushing.

“At Students for Life Action, our focus is on making sure that we have rights in place for all preborn babies, and so that is what I would really focus on, because what the radical left wants to do right now is to allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason,” she said.

“That is the regime that we had under Roe [Roe v. Wade], and that is what we have fought so hard to overcome. And yet there are people, including [Texas Democrat U.S. Senate candidate] James Talarico, who are running for supporting killing more babies,” she continued.

“I had a sign earlier that said, ‘Keep the GOP Pro-Life,’ and that’s what we’re really all standing here for—to make sure that the one party that has been able to say preborn babies should have a right to life continues to say that,” she concluded.

Another attendee told the Daily Signal the strategy is simple: point out all the “crazy things” that socialist candidates want to do. He said while Republicans should be talking about the “crazies,” they should also be highlighting the wins they have had in Congress and across the country.

“Those are things that are important that we’re not talking enough about, and I think we should. I think that will make a big impact on voters,” he said.

One final attendee the Daily Signal spoke with highlighted the importance of young voters, noting that Republicans need to target them.

“It’s the young people. We need to get to the young people because they’re the ones that are following this. And they think that we’ve got a problem between the two parties that can’t do anything,” he said.

More from this network:
Domains for Sale · GOTPeople.org · TheDSAPlatform · The Truth About Socialism

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