In an interview on ABC’s “This Week” aired Sunday, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and host Jon Karl disputed Emmer’s description of Democrats running in the midterm elections as communists.
The exchange followed Emmer’s comments that Republicans should work to reduce fuel costs. He called gasoline at $4 per gallon and diesel at $6 “entirely unacceptable,” then said that lowering prices was not enough reason to vote for communists.
Karl responded that most Democrats would reject that label and said there were not many communists on the ballot. Emmer insisted that Karl was wrong, arguing that Democratic socialists and other candidates should be described as communists or Marxists. He cited the Democratic Socialists of America platform and said its positions on policing, health care and climate policy should be part of the debate.
The labels and policy characterizations were Emmer’s claims during the interview; Karl disputed his description of the candidates. The source material does not provide independent verification of Emmer’s assertions about the candidates or the effects of the policies he cited.
Earlier in the program, Emmer accused journalists of applying different standards to economic coverage under President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. He cited fuel-price and grocery-inflation figures, asserting that the measures were lower under Trump. Those figures were presented by Emmer in the interview.
The source reports that Emmer had made similar remarks in a Fox News Digital interview the previous week and had criticized Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has denied being a socialist. It also says Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates are running in the midterm elections.
Fox News Digital said it sought comment from Emmer and ABC News. The supplied material does not include responses.
