Taxing the hell out of millionaires is the Democratic Socialists of America's stated goal. The movement's co-chair, Megan Romer, could not say at what rate when pressed on "The New Yorker Radio Hour" Friday, a gap that both Republican critics and centrist Democrats are now working to exploit before November.
The moment that opened the attack
The exchange came during a conversation between Romer and New Yorker editor David Remnick. Romer endorsed steep taxes on wealthy Americans and said she was more focused on billionaires, because she believed most had accumulated their wealth by exploiting workers. When Remnick asked her to define what "taxing the hell" out of millionaires would mean in practice, she started a response without naming a rate or income threshold. Remnick interrupted, asking whether the DSA co-chair should be able to supply a number. Romer said the organization would determine tax policy by examining spending priorities and the revenue needed to fund them.
The DSA's official 2026 program, drafted through its 2025 national convention, takes the same approach: "Enact aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure," with no figure attached.
What primary gains complicate for critics
The counterargument is that the movement has results. Melat Kiros defeated longtime Democratic Representative Diana DeGette in Colorado. Darializa Avila Chevalier ousted Representative Adriano Espaillat. Claire Valdez won the nomination for an open New York congressional seat. Progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly beat establishment-backed Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary last week. Romer noted that El-Sayed is not a DSA candidate because he identifies as a capitalist.
These wins are the organizing credential that the RNC's criticism papers over.
The two-front squeeze
RNC national spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said in a statement to Fox News Digital that socialists were steering Democrats toward political disaster. Every candidate on the ballot, she said, would be forced to answer for the movement's positions.
The threat also came from within the party. Third Way, the centrist Democratic organization, announced it would spend $15 million through 2028 on opposition research, polling, social media, and outreach aimed at weakening the DSA's influence. Co-founder Matt Bennett called the DSA "a serious threat to Democrats" and said the group's "ideas are dangerous and their politics are toxic." Romer dismissed the campaign as $15 million spent convincing working-class people a better world was not possible.
On balance
The risk is structural. DSA carries real momentum from its primary record, and the RNC's alarm-bell framing is the predictable move. But the specific policy gap Remnick exposed is the one that travels: a co-chair who cannot name a tax rate when the question is put to her directly supplies the opposition with the simplest possible talking point. The line to watch is whether the movement can fill in the number before November assigns one.