Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., warned a "hammer-and-sickle wave" is taking over the Democratic Party, saying the rise of "radical leftist communists" this election cycle will shape what Democrats’ 2028 presidential primary will look like.
FIRST ON FOX: One Senate Republican warned that the "radical leftist" surge in the Democratic Party today will be the roadmap for Democrats in 2028, when candidates will jockey for the White House.
"You get this hammer-and-sickle wave we saw in New York — that is not going to be an isolated incident," Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. "That is a flashing red light. It is a red flag."
"Their primaries now are going to be dominated by these people who want to go to war with Western civilization," he continued. "I mean, I'm not making this up, this is what they say they want to do. And so their [2028] presidential primary will be defined by this ideology."
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The Democratic Party is changing, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., represents the old guard, while upstart stars like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are driving the conversation. (John Nacion/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Several insurgent progressive and far-left candidates have toppled more moderate incumbents in primary contests during this midterm election cycle. In New York City, as Schmitt pointed out, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s chosen candidates made a clean sweep in June.
Two incumbents, Reps. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., were felled by progressives with the Mamdani stamp of approval — Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, respectively.
And in the race for the majority in
