Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Sunday that the Democratic Party’s recent victories by socialist candidates in New York reflect a healthy debate within the party, pushing back on concerns from moderate Democrats who have warned against embracing socialism.
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, the senator was asked about last week’s New York primaries, where New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed a slate of socialist candidates who ended up beating out moderate Democrats. The election results have reignited an ideological battle over the party’s direction.
“I want us to be a big tent party,” Murphy said. “I think that it’s actually a sign of a party that is alive and growing when there’s a contest of ideas inside the party.”
Murphy’s comments came as Mamdani also sat down for an interview with ABC News, where the self-proclaimed socialist dismissed an open letter from 13 moderate House Democrats that declared, “We are capitalists and not socialists,” in response to New York primary results. Asked about what he had dubbed a “manifesto,” Mamdani said he was “not interested in writing a manifesto or, frankly, in reading one.”
Murphy stopped short of embracing the socialist label himself, but said there should be space for the party to embrace candidates with that designation.
“I’m not a Democratic socialist,” he said. “But I do believe the Democratic Party has been historically way too timid in taking on corporate power. I think our party should have bigger ideas.”
Murphy pointed to his recently introduced proposal to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour as an example of the type of ambitious economic agenda Democrats should pursue.
He argued voters increasingly believe “this version of capitalism” is failing working people because wages have failed to keep pace with rising costs while wealth has become increasingly concentrated.
While Murphy said Democrats should not adopt socialism as their party’s identity, he argued they cannot succeed by defending the economic status quo.
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“I think we have to understand that people do not believe this version of capitalism has worked,” he said, adding that Democrats should instead offer what he called “common good capitalism,” centered on stronger unions, higher wages, and broader shared prosperity.
The senator also argued the party should welcome ideological diversity, saying Democrats need to allow “a real contest of ideas” while remaining united against President Donald Trump and in defense of democratic institutions.
