DeSantis: "Corporatist Republicans" are pushing young voters toward socialism

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says Republicans have themselves to blame for young voters warming to socialism, pointing at what he called "corporatist Republicans" who bend government toward favored industries and companies, the New York Post reported Sunday.

"Young people have a very positive view of socialism compared to capitalism. The question is, why is that?" DeSantis said in an interview on "The Sage Steele Show" recorded Wednesday, a day after Democrats took both chambers of Congress. "Some of it is the education in our universities. But I think a big part of that is, what they're comparing is not free enterprise versus socialism. What they're comparing is how government gets involved in business, and you have crony capitalism."

"The best kind of indirect supporters of socialism are some of these corporatist Republicans who propagate these crony policies," he said. "If it's cronyism versus socialism, there's going to be enough people who are going to choose socialism."

The Post noted voters under 30 backed Democratic House candidates 66% to 31%, according to a preliminary estimate from Tufts University's CIRCLE. DeSantis has called the midterms "close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country," and on X he predicted the Senate may stay out of GOP hands until 2032.