The DSA Reckons With a Leader Going Viral for All the Wrong Reasons

The most common criticism of Romer’s interview from DSA members concerned her unpreparedness for certain questions. When Remnick asked whether she believed there should be millionaires in this country, she said she was more concerned about billionaires. She ran into trouble when she said she supported “taxing the hell out of millionaires,” and Remnick tried to pin her down on a number. “Well, what does taxing the hell out of them mean?” he said with a huff. Romer dragged her feet. “Uh, yeah, you know, again,” she said, “I don’t have a solid–” Remnick cut her off. “But shouldn’t you?” he asked. “Um, that’s a good question,” she replied. She never got around to answering the question.

This response, one of several from the interview to go viral, did not sit well with some in the DSA. “She couldn’t really answer some of the basic policy questions about taxing the rich, which is really our bread and butter,” said the first DSA leader. “I think that’s quite damning.”

Blanc said Romer wasn’t convincing enough for those on the outside. The interview “didn’t articulate socialist politics in a way that I think would bring people closer to DSA if you weren’t already on board,” he said. “There were multiple times where … Megan said things that were obviously going to give the enemies of socialism in the Democratic Party and the Republicans a field day.”

Romer doubled down on a wholly socialist America, defended abolishing the Senate, and said she opposed providing weapons to Ukraine. “We should be sending huge teams of diplomats,” Romer said. Remnick’s response: “Russia would get off of Ukraine’s back by us sending diplomats?”

While Romer’s answers accurately reflect the DSA’s stances, they’re easily mocked by the establishment when put forth so directly. “The circles of DSA members that I talked to and were texting about this were pretty upset, because they understand the stakes right now,” Blanc said. “You’re not really speaking to Remnick there. You’re not speaking to Fox News people. You’re trying to speak to the people who are potentially going to watch that.”

Sterne was more sympathetic. “There’s a tension between wanting to appear reasonable and trying to win people over without moving away from what DSA actually believes,” he said. “I’m not sure that there’s that much Megan could have done differently, because she does have to represent this large and sometimes unwieldy coalition of DSA’s internal politics.”

Despite the criticism of Romer within the DSA, there’s little chance she will be replaced as co-chair before her term ends next summer. Ousting her prematurely would require a two-thirds majority vote from the DSA’s National Political Committee, or NPC, and the right branch of the organization knows that even suggesting the idea would enrage the left flank. “She got by far the most votes during the co-chair elections last year,” Sterne said. “There is a lot of support for her. Even if people feel she’s not the strongest spokesperson, I think people are generally happy with her overall leadership of the organization.” NPC member Sidney Carlson White, representing the left-wing Marxist Unity Group, confirmed as much. “There’s been no outcry from any of the caucuses,” he said, adding that he thought the interview was “generally viewed positively by membership.”

Some members still hope for a sea change. “I think everyone thought she was doing a bad job, but it was sort of a ‘wait and see’ approach to assess the extent of the damage,” said the first DSA leader, who wants Romer gone. “As time has gone by, it does seem to be a serious issue.” The regional leader added: “I don’t think she has a strong vision for what DSA should be. On top of that, she doesn’t seem like a strong spokesperson either. So I do support replacing her.” The same source said they expected Romer to “pull back” from public appearances.

Grace Mausser, the co-chair of NYC-DSA and a member of SMC, said she empathized with Romer. Mausser has also acted as a de facto spokeswoman for the DSA, recently making appearances on CBS and Fox & Friends. “Until the last two years, almost none of us had big media experience or did a lot of press,” she said. “I may disagree with Megan on some things, but Megan … like all of us in DSA, is adjusting to a very sudden spotlight on our movement.”

Four days after the New Yorker interview, the DSA announced it was hiring a national press coordinator for the first time. “People feel that the co-chairs, both Megan and Ashik [Siddique], are doing their best,” Sterne said. “But there is a concern that they need better media training. Some people have also said maybe the co-chairs should not be the spokespeople.”