MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell indicated Tuesday he sees little difference between socialism and the democratic socialism label that some left-leaning politicians use.
“Semantics,” O’Donnell said on CSPAN when asked to describe the difference.
The term “democratic socialism” has been used almost interchangeably with “socialism” over the last week, when Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her primary race against Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y.
O’Donnell said America is a mix of socialism and capitalism and that people should not be so afraid of the world “socialism.” As an example, he said Medicare is a socialist program that helps millions of people.
“Medicare is socialism, and everyone on Medicare in this country is the beneficiary of very smart socialist program called Medicare,” he said. “To deny that it’s socialism is to deny economic literacy.”
“Socialism, it turns out, is not terrifying if you know what it is,” he added.
O’Donnell said America needs both socialism and capitalism to work.
“Is our healthcare system socialist? No,” he said. “Is our healthcare system capitalist? No.”
“Is our healthcare system socialistic? Yes, it is,” he added. “Does our healthcare system have capitalistic elements? Yes, it does.”
[Also read: Socialist candidates the ‘future of our party,’ says DNC Chairman Tom Perez]
