In what is the least surprising turn of events, former Univision anchor Jorge Ramos has once again devoted column space to the promotion of the false religion known as “democratic socialism”, and of its loudest proponents. In this instance, of course, the column is in promotion of New York City’s flashy new Mayor-elect: Zohran Mamdani.
The first giveaway is the column’s title: “Mamdani, the Anti-Trump.” So advanced is Ramos’s Trump Derangement Syndrome that he is now promoting communists on the basis of their opposition to Donald Trump. He smiles! He eats! He dances!
Mamdani is everything that Trump is not: Young – he’s 34 – a socialist democrat, Muslim immigrant and with a much more generous vision of what a ruler should be. Mamdani looks outside, to the other, while Trump sees only himself.
Mamdani is almost always smiling. Trump almost never. That reminds us that elections are won by proposing a better future, not just by attacking the bad side of your opponent. He reminds me of the slogan, “Happiness is coming” that Chileans used to push out dictator Augusto Pinochet during the 1988 plebiscite.
There is only the contrast with Trump. This is all that matters for Ramos. When it comes to Mamdani’s ideology? The column offers little analysis in terms of this except to regurgitate a quote from an earlier interview:
Asked about his brand of democratic socialism, he paraphrased Martin Luther King when he said, “There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country.” It means nothing to say that New York is the best city in the world, he added, if you don’t have enough money to live there.
This is nothing new for regular readers of this byline. Here’s how Ramos soft-sold “democratic socialism” in 2019
JORGE RAMOS: So what, exactly, is democratic socialism? It’s the idea that democracy and the economy work best when there is a strong social safety net- one that provides people with universal access to education and healthcare, one that protects workers and the environment. Democratic socialism believes that people can participate best in a democracy when their basic needs are taken care of. Democratic socialism is different from traditional socialism. Traditional socialism calls for a state-run economy with no free-market capitalism. In practice, traditional socialism often ends in authoritarian disaster. Think of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and North Korea. They all call themselves “socialist countries”. This is what older generations think of when they hear the word “socialism”: poverty, repression, and lack of individual freedoms. But younger generations tend to think of socialism as a system of basic guarantees, protections, and rights for all workers, children, the elderly, and the environment. Most democratic socialists aren’t advocating for a government takeover. They simply want a level playing field for everyone to succeed.
Not much has changed. Ramos continues to soft-sell socialism and to fawn all over socialists. He did everything in his power to normalize Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to his viewers at Univision, to the point of servility, and now does the same for Mamdani.
Unfettered from corporate restraint, Ramos is now free to be as openly leftist as he wants to be. He has proven his viewers right for ultimately distrusting him, and proven Univision right for cutting him loose.
