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New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was the Democratic party’s candidate in the election, but he proudly describes himself as a democratic socialist alongside left-wing lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Mamdani quoted the most famous American socialist, Eugene Debs, in his acceptance speech Tuesday night and talked about doing more for “working people” as opposed to the rich.

There’s a fair amount of confusion and fear generated in the US by the term “socialist,” which is associated with repressive societies like Communist China, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, North Korea or Cuba.

So it’s worth looking at what Mamdani and his supporters mean by it (think social programs in Western Europe) and also how the political right will use it against Democrats.

President Donald Trump, for instance, liked to call Mamdani a communist and has threatened to pull federal funding from New York City when Mamdani is mayor.

What does a democratic socialist believe in?

CNN’s Erin Burnett has talked to Mamdani multiple times about the term and his beliefs, including after he won the Democratic primary and after Trump tried to label Mamdani as a communist.

In June, Burnett asked Mamdani if