Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning Democrats that they cannot afford to dismiss Republican attacks portraying progressive candidates as socialists or communists ahead of the midterm elections.
Speaking Friday on the “Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway” podcast, Clinton said Democrats will need to find a way to unite their party after closely fought primaries, particularly in states where progressive candidates have defeated more moderate rivals.
Her comments came after Dr. Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. Stevens was viewed as the more moderate candidate, while El-Sayed campaigned on a number of progressive priorities.
Clinton said the challenge now is making sure Stevens’ supporters remain willing to vote for El-Sayed in the general election while also persuading independent voters who may be less comfortable with his politics.
“The real fight will be, how do we make sure that people who voted for Haley feel comfortable voting for Abdul El-Sayed, and how do we get Independents to feel comfortable,” Clinton said.
She also warned that Republicans are likely to make ideological labels a major part of their campaign strategy.
“It’s not just about Michigan, but the Republican messaging is ‘communist, socialist.’ It’s going to be a very effective attack,” Clinton said. “People on the left have to be prepared to answer that and be effective in answering that.”
Podcast host Kara Swisher questioned whether labeling Democratic candidates as communists would really carry much weight with voters in 2026. Clinton stood by her assessment, pointing to President Trump’s repeated use of the language.
“All I know is that is the attack President Trump is leading with and I assume they’ve tested that and I assume they have reason to believe it’s effective or they wouldn’t be beating the drum on it,” Clinton said.
At the same time, Clinton acknowledged that such attacks do not always succeed. She pointed to the election of New York City Mayor Mamdani as an example where Republican warnings about socialism failed to prevent a Democratic victory.
Still, Clinton’s larger concern was about whether Democrats can repair the divisions left behind by contentious primaries.
She described the Democratic Party as a much broader political coalition than the Republican Party, arguing that Democrats represent voters with a wide range of political views, personal backgrounds and priorities. While she said that diversity can be an advantage, she also stressed that the party ultimately has to assemble a coalition capable of winning general elections.
That will be especially important in Michigan, where Democrats see the Senate race as critical to their hopes of gaining control of the chamber.
El-Sayed’s campaign embraced several policies associated with the party’s progressive wing, including Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ending U.S. aid to Israel, and increasing taxes on millionaires and billionaires. Those positions helped him build support during the Democratic primary, but Republicans are expected to use them in an effort to win over moderates and independents in November.
Clinton said El-Sayed and his supporters will have to actively reach out to Democrats who backed Stevens, particularly after what she described as an unusually bitter primary.
It will require “a lot of outreach and a lot of willingness on the part of the winning candidate and his supporters” to recognize that they will need votes from some of the same people they criticized during the campaign, she said.
