Nikki Haley dubs 2020 'the year socialism went mainstream'

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Socialism became more accepted in 2020 and is on its way to becoming the default economic policy for Democratic politicians, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned Monday.

Taking to Twitter, the high-profile Republican wrote, "2020 was the year socialism went mainstream."  

Calling socialism a "dangerous ideology" the former governor of South Carolina noted it "has failed everywhere it has been tried & ruined countless lives." 

Worse, she also wrote, "it is on its way to becoming the default economic policy of the Democratic Party. This terrifying trend threatens the future of every American."

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In another tweet, she stated, "The left believes that government knows best. If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that when govt dictates how the economy is run, Americans suffer. With the Biden admin set to take power, now is the time to renew the fight for capitalism."

The rumored 2024 GOP presidential hopeful also posted an article from Stand for America, a website and advocacy group she started.

In a posting entitled, "2020 In Review: Socialism Rising," Haley offered more thoughts on socialism. "With the Biden administration set to take power, now is the time to renew the fight for capitalism and opportunity for all — and against socialism and its suffering," Haley wrote.

Haley declared, "Now is the time to rally our fellow citizens to ensure that every American can achieve their dreams and bring our country and people to new heights of achievement. The only way socialism wins is if we don’t show up. So let’s show up, stand up, and speak out, for the sake of America’s future."

In the "2020 in Review" post, her group linked to a New York Post article featuring polling that socialism wasn't actually popular among Americans and faced considerable opposition from the country. The poll by Rasmussen and the conservative Heartland Institute reported that 75% of Americans said they preferred free-market capitalism over socialism.

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Haley's comments came amid an ongoing internal struggle for the future of the Democratic Party. While some Democrats have resisted policies typically associated with socialism, those ideas appeared to gain traction during the 2020 elections.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for example, offered a speech in which he defended his brand of "Democratic socialism" and joined other Democratic candidates in bashing then-presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden's attempt to be more moderate on health care after Sanders and several others called for a Medicare for All policy. One of those critical voices was Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is set to take office as the next vice president with President-elect Biden.

The Green New Deal, which was spearheaded by self-described Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was also endorsed in some fashion by a long list of leading presidential candidates. 

However, it's unclear how representative Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow "Squad" mates are representative of the party as a whole. After House Democrats' disappointing showing in the November election, a caucus call erupted with some members bashing more left-leaning policies like "defund the police."

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said on that call if "we are going to run on Medicare for All, defund the police, socialized medicine, we're not going to win," his office previously confirmed to Fox News.

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And while Ocasio-Cortez has called for new leadership in the party, she also rejected the idea that members should force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to hold a vote on a single payer health care system.

Yet and still, the U.S. economic system has taken sustained fire from the left. In an interview published earlier this month, Congressman-Elect Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., a new member of Ocasio-Cortez's "Squad," caught attention for claiming American capitalism was "slavery by another name."