A recent investigative report by Newsweek has exposed troubling connections between the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — America’s largest socialist organization — and officials linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These revelations demand serious scrutiny because the DSA has achieved growing political influence in recent years. This influence reached a new peak with the 2025 election of longtime DSA member Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City.
The Newsweek report drew on dozens of internal DSA documents, including meeting minutes and presentation materials dating back to 2021. These records show the DSA’s international committee actively pursuing closer relations with CCP-affiliated entities, often framed as solidarity in the fight against “U.S. imperialism.” In one striking example from a 2025 meeting of the DSA China Working Group, a New York-based member stated: “China wants to interface with the DSA … If we develop a killer two-week itinerary, hire locals, and develop further connections with the CPC [Communist Party of China], then we’re golden.”
Other documents included detailed presentations about at least two trips to China taken by some DSA members in 2023 and 2025. It remains unclear whether these visits were directly sponsored by the Chinese government or by entities tied to the CCP’s United Front Work Department, the party’s propaganda arm, which Chinese leader Xi Jinping describes as a “magic weapon” for global influence operations. The United Front is notorious for recruiting foreign “useful idiots” to aid in its influence operations, often through fully funded, carefully scripted trips to China.
Code Pink Ties
Furthermore, the DSA’s documents demonstrate that the organization actively sought guidance from other radical leftist groups, such as Code Pink, in strengthening ties with China. Jodie Evans, co-founder of Code Pink and a CCP apologist, presented her group’s “China Is Not Our Enemy” (CINOE) campaign at one of the DSA meetings. She encouraged the DSA to promote a positive view of Communist China in the U.S., while deliberately avoiding contentious topics such as China’s potential invasion to Taiwan and the documented genocide against Uyghur Muslims.
Evans is married to Neville Roy Singham, a U.S.-born tech billionaire and open Marxist currently living in Shanghai, China. Together, they play a pivotal role in influencing both the messaging and financial support of Marxist groups in the U.S., such as the New York City-based People’s Forum. These groups aim to promote CCP propaganda and instigate chaos in the U.S., including backing the anti-ICE protests in Minnesota and anti-Israel protests in New York City following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In light of these activities, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has called on the U.S. Justice Department to launch a federal investigation into Code Pink, accusing it of providing “material support to foreign terrorist organizations” and serving as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government.
Still, internal documents from the DSA reveal that the organization was acting on Evans’ advice and planning events to promote the Chinese government’s poverty alleviation program. Alarmingly, even the United Nations has raised serious concerns about this program, citing allegations of human rights abuses, including forced labor involving Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other vulnerable minorities. The national DSA organization, along with its local Minnesota chapter, also supported the anti-ICE protests, which have created significant divisions among Americans.
Mamdani’s DSA Membership
Notably, the internal DSA documents reviewed by Newsweek do not indicate that Mayor Mamdani — a longtime DSA member who has described the New York chapter as his “political home” — participated in the specific meetings, discussions, or China trips outlined. His office declined to comment on the Newsweek report. Yet neither Mamdani nor City Hall has publicly distanced itself from the DSA’s documented efforts to cultivate ties with CCP officials.
This ongoing silence is troubling. If the DSA remained a marginal political entity with no real influence, its ties with the CCP might merit only passing concern. But Mamdani’s stunning victory in the 2025 New York City mayoral race — defeating a former governor in the Democratic primary and going on to win the general election — has elevated the DSA to unprecedented heights.
Mamdani’s campaign offers a clear play book for socialists seeking mainstream influence in a two-party political system: run as Democrats in primaries, downplay radical affiliations during campaigns, emphasize populist economic messages, and capitalize on their achievements by earning endorsements from the Democratic establishment (Mamdani received an endorsement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries after winning the primary).
On his inauguration day, Mamdani revealed that he has remained faithful to Marxism by vowing that “we will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” In his first week, Mamdani appointed a new renters’ tsar, Cea Waver, who has previously argued that homeownership should be abolished because it represents “white supremacy.” These early moves by Mamdani illustrate a familiar strategy seen in communist regimes, from the Soviet Union to China: offering an innocuous front to cloak a more extreme Marxist agenda until power is firmly secured.
Other DSA Candidates in Office
Mamdani is not the only Democratic Socialist who won an election in 2025; voters in San Antonio, Texas, also elected three DSA candidates to the city council. Additionally, in Seattle, socialist Katie Wilson successfully defeated incumbent Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell.
These election successes have sparked a wave of enthusiasm among DSA members to capitalize on this political momentum: running (and winning) as Democrats, aiming to challenge and replace incumbents from within. More of them may succeed as an increasing number of Democratic voters are viewing socialism positively rather than negatively. A recent poll reveals that the proportion of Democrats who hold a favorable view of socialism has surged from roughly 50 percent to nearly two-thirds. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has rightly recognized that the DSA candidates “are fundamentally changing what has always been recognized as the Democratic Party in America.”
As the DSA translates electoral success into governing power — from New York to Seattle and beyond — its documented efforts to build ties with the CCP cannot simply be brushed off as ideological quirks or fringe activism; they raise critical concerns about foreign influence, national security, and the integrity of our democratic institutions.
Therefore, it is essential to demand transparency from the DSA and the elected officials associated with it, starting with Mayor Mamdani, regarding the extent of the links between the DSA and the CCP. Failing to address these ties risks undermining public trust and allowing foreign adversaries to exploit divisions within our domestic politics.
Read the full article here
