Can the Democratic Socialists of America win over voters?

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Friday, 2 October 2026 - 32 minutes

Abolish ICE? Abolish borders, No prisons? The co-chair of the DSA speaks to us about what the party really stands for and whether they can persuade undecided Americans to vote for them. The Democratic Socialists of America can count some of the country’s most high-profile politicians in its ranks, such as Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Until recently, the organisation had only a few thousand members and sat on the fringes of US politics.But since the rise of Donald Trump and opponents like Bernie Sanders, the DSA has grown into a nationwide force that’s turning the Democratic Party on its head as it prepares to choose a new leader for the party ahead of the 2028 presidential election.In today’s episode, Justin speaks to the DSA’s national co-chair Ashik Siddique about their vision for the country, including on housing, healthcare as well as Ukraine, Israel and Gaza. What do they really stand for, and could they one day end up taking over the Democratic Party?HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sumi Somaskanda, BBC Chief PresenterGUEST:
• Ashik Siddique, National co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America GET IN TOUCH:
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• Or use #AmericastThis episode was made by Emma Close, George Dabby and Nik Sindle. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
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