Surging Dem with DSA ties is 'either a bona-fide socialist, or she's not very smart': GOP rep
Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon's denial that she is a socialist despite her membership in the Democratic Socialists of America should alarm voters as much as her surprise primary victory did, a lawmaker who fled Fidel Castro's Cuba told Fox News Digital.
Nixon, who upset Trump impeachment witness Alexander Vindman in last week's Democratic primary, told NBC News on Sunday that she is "not a socialist," despite acknowledging her DSA membership. She said she joined the far-left group because of its platform on public housing, healthcare, veterans and removing big money from politics.
"She's either a bona-fide socialist, or she's not very smart, because she ended up being a member of the Democratic Socialists of America," Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.
"I don't know what the heck she thought she was joining… Socialists [and] communists, deny what they are until they get into power," Gimenez said. He fled Castro’s Cuba as a child.
FLORIDA DEMOCRAT SENATE NOMINEE ANGIE NIXON INSISTS ‘I’M NOT A SOCIALIST’ AFTER JOINING DSA
Gimenez said he experienced that type of political pivot firsthand after Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
Castro denied he was a Marxist and a communist early in the revolution but publicly acknowledged on Dec. 2, 1961 that he embraced Leninism and would do so forever, Gimenez recounted.
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Gimenez argued that Nixon’s position, along with those of her DSA allies, "doesn’t sell" to the broader electorate.
"These socialists … are actually using democracy to destroy democracy," Gimenez said, pointing to Venezuela and Nicaragua as examples of movements that initially gained power through elections.
Gimenez said an early act of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez was to pack the Supreme Court. He argued that socialist and communist regimes typically restructure government so the presidency answers to a single legislative chamber packed with apparatchiks.
"Sound familiar?" he said, drawing a comparison between that history and DSA proposals to abolish the Senate and restructure the Supreme Court.
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Gimenez pointed to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's July announcement banning future elections after Ortega was democratically elected twice.
Ortega then "eliminated all pretexts of democracy" and plans to jail political opponents, Gimenez said, arguing that the development shows socialism as presented is "a pack of lies."
Gimenez predicted incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., will "smoke" Nixon in November. He added that his district, which stretches from Miami to Key West and has a 70% Hispanic population that includes immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela, has "seen this movie before."
"We kind of look at each other and go ‘OK’. Unfortunately, across the nation, it is not the same," Gimenez said, pointing to New York City and Detroit and referencing the rise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed.
Before Nixon’s comments, the DSA publicly celebrated what would have been Castro’s 100th birthday while attacking Secretary of State Marco Rubio for upholding the longstanding embargo and accusing him of hurting the Cuban people.
"They blame the embargo for everything," Gimenez said, adding that Rubio — the son of Cuban immigrants — is doing the right things. Gimenez said the embargo has never covered basic necessities such as food or medicine and argued that the only reason Cuba is broke is its leadership.
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He noted Cuba used to be a global leader in sugar production but now imports cane.
"Why are they broke? Because they're incompetent. Why are incompetent? Because they are communists," Gimenez said, adding that the DSA is honoring a man who "incarcerated [his] entire island" so that no one can flee.
When socialists defend the Cuban healthcare system, Gimenez said his response is "the Cuban healthcare system... sucks," pointing to hospitals without supplies or medicines and a lack of public access to pharmaceuticals.
"It's okay to deny you all your basic rights as long as they give you healthcare? That's how screwy they are."
"I have seen socialism. I want no part of it. And hopefully the American people once they understand exactly what that brings and the price that you're going to pay because they lose your freedom, that they'll say we want no part of this."
Fox News Digital reached out to Nixon for comment.