MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews gave a dire warning to Democrats about supporting candidates who promote socialism.
“But I think that the Democratic Party has to figure out its ideology,” the host said Friday after the Democratic presidential debate.
“You know, I have my own views of the word ‘socialist,'” Matthews said. “They go back to the early 1950s. I have an attitude about them. I remember the Cold War. I have an attitude towards Castro. I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War, there would have been executions in Central Park, and I might’ve been one of the ones getting executed, and certain other people would be there cheering, OK? So, I have a problem with people who took the other side.”
Matthews, 74, added he was not sure which type of socialism Sen. Bernie Sanders supports, saying if it was like Denmark, then it would be “harmless.”
“That’s basically a capitalist country with a lot of good social welfare programs,” he added.
Sanders, 78, has lauded countries such as Denmark, but he had also praised Cuba’s Fidel Castro over 30 years ago, saying people “forgot that [Castro] educated their kids, gave their kids healthcare, totally transformed the society.” He also called the government’s overthrow a “revolution of values.”
The Vermont independent visited the island in the 1980s, where he chalked up the country’s failures to “right-wing” propaganda. He praised the country’s democracy, free housing, and healthcare.
The socialist had also honeymooned in the Soviet Union. “I was personally surprised at how popular Reagan is in the Soviet Union,” Sanders said after he returned from the country. He praised the Soviet’s infrastructure as being better than that in the United States.
