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Liberal-city resident hesitates when pressed on beliefs: 'I hadn't really thought about socialism that way'
Fox News ^ | October 18, 2026 | Paul Steinhauser

Posted on 10/18/2026 4:47:50 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

Americans who were asked for their opinions of socialism by Fox News Digital offered sharply different interpretations of the ideology, with some embracing its promises of economic equality while others expressed strong reservations about government control over the means of production.

Fox News Digital took to the streets of Maine's largest city, a progressive bastion, to talk to residents about their definitions of socialism and how far they would be willing to go to embrace its ideals.

The topic of socialism has featured prominently in campaign coverage during this midterm election cycle, as candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) scored high-profile victories over more centrist rivals in a slew of Democratic primaries this year. DSA's outsized influence has been a driving force in the ballot box battle for the Democratic Party's ideological future.

A new Fox News national poll indicates 32% of voters have a favorable view of socialism, with 64% seeing it in an unfavorable way. But the favorable rating matches an all-time high, first reached five years ago, since Fox News first began asking the question in 2019. And a September Gallup poll found that 43% of Americans had a positive image of socialism, the highest level since the polling organization began tracking the question in 2010.

Lewis, a retired Navy veteran, said socialism was a good thing because it "looks out for people's needs.... and it's not communism."

Socialism and communism both emphasize collective ownership of the means of production, such as factories, businesses and major industries. But socialism encompasses a range of approaches, including those that allow private enterprise, while communism traditionally envisions the abolition of private ownership of productive assets and, ultimately, a classless society.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: communism; socialism
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1 posted on 10/18/2026 4:47:50 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Socialism is communism sold by the drink instead of by the bottle.

L


2 posted on 10/18/2026 4:51:31 PM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

3 posted on 10/18/2026 4:53:53 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Too bad they don’t even teach that, anymore :-(


4 posted on 10/18/2026 4:58:47 PM PDT by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
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5 posted on 10/18/2026 4:58:52 PM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Examples of communism and socialism in the US:

Medicare is socialist.
The VA is communist.


6 posted on 10/18/2026 4:59:27 PM PDT by fruser1
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To: MinorityRepublican

“Socialism is when I don’t have to work, and everything I want is free.”


7 posted on 10/18/2026 5:10:23 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Some people want to control their own life, others want to control the lives of others. )
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To: MinorityRepublican

“There is no difference between Communism and Socialism, except in the same ultimate end:
Communism proposes to enslave men by force, Socialism- by the vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide”. -Ayn Rand


8 posted on 10/18/2026 5:13:50 PM PDT by centermass_socrates (Keep it clean, keep it loaded, and keep it handy.)
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To: MinorityRepublican
IMG-9904
9 posted on 10/18/2026 5:14:51 PM PDT by broken_clock (Go Trump! Prayers answered!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Socialism presumes that the Evil Corporations will become more benevolent with confiscatory taxes. Punish the successful with taxes and presume that they wont pass these costs along to the consumer.

One only has to think one level beneath the surface to expose this lie. Sadly most of these people don’t think for themselves at all. But they parrot the media propaganda very well until the riots come to destroy their shops. Then they’re like, “Oh how can you do this, I voted for you!!”


10 posted on 10/18/2026 5:25:10 PM PDT by Samurai_Jack (This is not about hypocrisy, this is about hierarchy!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

‘I hadn’t really thought ‘I hadn’t really thought about socialism that way’

‘I hadn’t really thought.’


11 posted on 10/18/2026 5:26:21 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo )
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To: BenLurkin

I don’t believe that cartoon at all. They are perfectly well aware of the murderous history of socialism and communism. They just think it will be us, the Conservatives, who will be stood up against the wall. That is something they dream of, in their little reptilian minds.


12 posted on 10/18/2026 5:28:14 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: MinorityRepublican

Leftists are all for socialism and the “rich” being taxed to fund food, medical care and housing for everyone else. But that’s only until they find out that THEY are the rich.

Democratic voters will demand we tax the rich as they sit in $1.5M homes and make $150K a year. They don’t realize that THEY are the ones who will eventually be taxed at the max rate.


13 posted on 10/18/2026 5:45:29 PM PDT by CFW
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To: Vendome

Exactly.


14 posted on 10/18/2026 6:04:18 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Jane Long

They’re too busy teaching our children to be perverted idiots.


15 posted on 10/18/2026 6:05:22 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MinorityRepublican

“I hadn’t really thought about socialism that way.”

A more accurate statement would have stopped after the word “thought.”


16 posted on 10/18/2026 6:08:19 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: No name given

AGREE!


17 posted on 10/18/2026 6:10:07 PM PDT by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
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To: MinorityRepublican
I hadn't really thought about socialism that way'
18 posted on 10/18/2026 6:33:00 PM PDT by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell)
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To: ClearCase_guy

‘I hadn’t really thought about socialism that way’

No critical thinking. Exactly what the Dems have been cultivating for decades now.


19 posted on 10/18/2026 7:26:50 PM PDT by simpson96
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To: CFW

To the left, a rich person is anyone making more money than they do and poor is anyone making less. They all see the scale form a different reference point. That’s what males their rhetoric so dangerously seductive to people driven by emotion.


20 posted on 10/18/2026 7:27:53 PM PDT by Dutch Boy (The only thing worse than having something taken from you is to have it returned broken. )
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