Democratic socialist candidate welcomes COMMUNISTS to party during interview with PBS

Far-left Colorado House candidate Melat Kiros appeared to welcome communists to the Democratic Party over the weekend.

Speaking with PBS host Margaret Hoover on Friday, a smiling Kiros, 29, conceded: 'It's a big tent, right?'

The self-professed democratic socialist had just been asked whether conservatives framing hers and others' success as a resurgence of the ideology bothered her at all.

'Some members of the Democratic Party are proudly proclaiming themselves as capitalists,' Kiros pointed out.

She also clarified that she did not identify as a 'communist,' personally.

'At the end of the day, it’s up to the voters, right?' Kiros told Hoover. 

'Until a self-proclaimed communist actually wins an election, then it’s just noise from the Republican Party.' 

Trump billed communism as 'the most serious threat to our country' after Kiros and others scored big wins over more moderate liberals in June. Kiros scored an upset win over Colorado's most senior Congressmember, Diana DeGette.

Kiros told Hoover that none of her contemporaries - at least the successful ones - ran on a communism platform. 

'There's no one actually winning with that,' Kiros said.

Communism is widely seen as the final, last, and most complete form of socialism, as envisioned by 19th-century German philosopher Karl Marx. It preaches a classless, stateless society ruled by the working class achieved through revolution, if necessary.

Supporters say it promotes fairness and dignity for all, but critics say past communist societies have been corrupt dictatorships where those in power live vastly better lives than the working classes they rule over. 

Democratic socialists instead pine for a multi-party, democratic government and policies like 'Medicare for All' and 'Defund the Police.' 

With more than 200 chapters in 48 states, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist group in the US.

Hoover and Kiros's sitdown thus sought to 'make sense of socialism.'

'Because I think the Republican Party, and frankly, the oligarchy that largely stands behind the Republican Party can see that our message of, in its most basic form, economic populism, is actually resonating with voters,' Kiros told the interviewers at a point.

'Democrats can try to trick voters, but Republicans will continue to expose how radical every single one of their candidates are from now until November,' she added.

Kiros is a University of Colorado Denver School PhD student who emigrated from Ethiopia with her family in 1998 who beat out 69-year-old DeGette with DSA cornerstones like 'ending all wars' and offering healthcare and childcare to all as a 'human right.'

'Frankly, this was not the way I would have wanted to end my career in politics, but I'm proud of my accomplishments,' DeGette - after 15 terms in Congress - told fans in a video statement after her loss.   

Kiros - who is also a barista - now has a shot at representing Colorado’s 1st District. 

Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib are currently the DSA's only Congressmembers.

Senator Bernie Sanders, despite decades of espousing socialist ideals, is not a registered member. 

Still, the DSA is picking up steam, with the faction backing a record 150 candidates this election cycle: 35 including Kiros have advanced from primaries or were unopposed, whereas 34 have lost. 

Little-known New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani set the groundwork by winning New York City's mayoral election in late 2024. Katie Wilson - another self-described democratic socialist - won the post of Seattle mayor as well.   

Neither identify as communists. The last time a Democratic socialist won elected office in the US was in 1924, aside from a handful of local municipal or advisory positions.