Expert who fled Cuba warns of 'communist cycle' in US

Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez said in an interview with Fox News Digital that the rise of socialist candidates in the US is creating a 'vicious cycle' and that there could be double-digit communist representatives in Congress.

Scraper SystemJuly 05, 2026, 09:57 PM

Expert who fled Cuba warns of 'communist cycle' in US

National security expert Mike Gonzalez, who fled Cuba and settled in the US, issued striking warnings about the rise of socialism in American politics. Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, suggested in an interview with Fox News Digital that the current political environment could lead to "communists reaching double-digit numbers in Congress."

Gonzalez stated that the socialist movement has taken over the Democratic Party, saying, "It's like a host body being taken over. It's being taken over by body snatchers and they can't defend against it even if they wanted to."

Electoral Successes of Socialist Candidates

In the past year, socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor in New York, while three congressional candidates he supported—Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier—defeated established Democrats, including two incumbents. In Seattle, Katie Wilson became mayor. In Colorado, Melat Kiros unseated Democratic Representative Diana DeGette, who had served 15 terms.

Gonzalez recalled that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels "saw no difference between socialism and communism," and said, "These people are communists, and when caught off guard they say, 'Yes, we want communism.'"

Factors Behind the Rise

According to Gonzalez, factors behind the success of socialist candidates include immigrants' failure to assimilate into American culture, growing hatred toward the US, and white guilt. He also emphasized that the cost-of-living crisis in cities like New York is a factor.

"A significant portion of these votes are white votes; young whites from the suburbs, who attend expensive Ivy League schools and are trying to get by in New York without becoming bankers," Gonzalez said, adding that socialist promises like free education, free buses, and publicly run grocery stores have become attractive to this group. "This is a very bad vicious cycle, and if we're not careful it will lead to communism in this country," he warned.

Arnold: "Socialist policies a threat to the American way of life"

Neetu Arnold, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, noted that the socialist trend is not limited to cities like New York but is spreading nationwide. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Arnold said, "The rise of socialism in America will shape our politics and push things to more extreme points."

Arnold stated that socialist candidates tap into real frustrations and grievances, but the solutions they offer propose more government intervention rather than addressing the root problems. "Young people are struggling to find housing, burdened by student debt, and having difficulty finding stable jobs. What was promised to them is not materializing," she added.

Arnold, who became a US citizen, said, "In this country we value merit, wealth, and the ability to move upward in society. Socialist policies essentially restrict what we can do. That's why I hope both Democrats and Republicans take the rise of socialism seriously."

Expert who fled Cuba warns of 'communist cycle' in US