Listening to Alyssa Farah Griffin and Sara Haines compare democratic socialists to the far right was genuinely offensive.

And honestly, it reminded me why corporate media feels so out of touch with ordinary people.

You cannot convince me that networks like ABC don’t deliberately build panels that ultimately defend the political and economic establishment. They may argue about personalities, elections, and partisan drama, but when someone challenges the system itself—suddenly everyone agrees that the challengers are the problem.

That’s exactly what happened here.

Apparently, wanting universal healthcare, stronger labor protections, affordable housing, and an economy that respects human dignity puts us in the same category as the far right.

Give me a break.

Yes, democratic socialists oppose the current establishment. So do people on the far right. But that’s where the similarities end.

Democratic socialism is built on the idea that society has a responsibility to care for its most vulnerable members and that every person deserves dignity, security, and the opportunity to participate fully in society. Those principles are deeply connected to Christian social teaching and the belief that human beings matter more than profits.

The far right believes something entirely different. Historically, it has embraced exclusion, scapegoating, and authoritarian politics. To pretend these movements are morally equivalent is intellectually lazy and politically convenient.

It allows establishment figures to avoid engaging with legitimate criticisms of corporate power, economic inequality, and a political system that too often serves wealthy donors before ordinary workers.

The truth is that many democratic socialists are motivated by compassion, solidarity, and a belief that nobody should be abandoned in one of the richest countries on Earth.

We are not asking for a politics of fear.

We are asking for healthcare.

We are asking for housing.

We are asking for workers to have dignity.

We are asking for an economy that serves people instead of demanding that people sacrifice themselves for corporate profits.

And for that, we’re supposed to be the equivalent of extremists?

No. That’s offensive, and people have every right to call it out.

Disagree with democratic socialism all you want. Debate our policies. Challenge our ideas. That’s how democracy works.

But stop pretending that a movement centered on social solidarity and human dignity is the same thing as political movements rooted in exclusion and resentment.

Those are not the same, and the fact that some establishment commentators think they are says more about the limits of establishment politics than it does about democratic socialists.

By Jonathan Marquez