President Donald Trump has indicated that his main strategy for the 2026 midterm elections is to call Democrats “socialists” and even “communists” at every turn. And there is evidence that democratic socialism is gaining somewhat more of a foothold in recent Democratic primaries.
But the larger story in American politics right now might be less the rise of socialism than the decline of faith in capitalism and economic fairness.
And new polling reinforces that even the right is growing more disillusioned.
A recent Fox News poll echoes Gallup data from last year in a key way: It shows views of socialism improving modestly, at best, but views of capitalism dropping more significantly.
Views of capitalism have gone from 30 points positive in 2019 (57% favorable to 27% unfavorable among registered voters) to just four points positive today (50%-46%).
