Former presidential candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) admitted that most of the people he talked to did not tell him that they wanted socialism.
He made the admission during an interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow on Wednesday.
Harlow asked him about a statement from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) referring to four freshman members of Congress as "this new Democrat socialist majority."
"I wonder if you think it is catchy and if you think it is dangerous to your party's chances in 2020," Harlow asked.
"No, it's not," Swalwell responded.
"I understand though why if you're working really hard and you're just living paycheck to paycheck, or you have student loan debt and you're not able to buy a house, you may be asking for something other than the capitalist system that we have today," he explained.
"But most people aren't telling me they want socialism.
"OK," responded Harlow.
"They're saying they just want to see their hard work add up," Swalwell added.
"I think we're of the party where if you work hard, it adds up," he concluded.
"So fair enough!" Harlow replied.
Socialism has become much more of an influential ideology in the Democratic party since Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an avowed socialist, challenged Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination in 2016.
Since that election, more far left members identifying as socialists have successfully run for Congress, including democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
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