Marjorie Simon, a lifelong Democrat, has had enough with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and creeping communism in the Democratic Party.
Simon had a candid conversation with Liz Collin on her podcast about how she believes socialism has been spreading through Minnesota politics—and what she’s doing to fight back.
WATCH:
Simon told Collin she’s noticed quite a change in the last few years. As a resident of Minneapolis, Simon talked about how she’s seen the Democratic Socialists of America take over the DFL.
DSA members now make up a third of the Minneapolis City Council. Even more telling, democratic socialists now have an official leadership role on the city council for the first time in history.
“They’ve ruined the party,” Simon explained.
She also pointed out that, “When Aisha Chughtai became the council member, I noticed a disaster. She is a bona fide member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She doesn’t like to respond to emails or calls or voicemails or anything. And she makes a lot of statements that don’t make sense to me. So when I follow up with her, I get absolutely nothing.”
As Simon pointed out, Chughtai recently made a trip to Cuba. Simon also spoke about how Chughtai and other DSA members of the council don’t seem to be actually helping the constituents they were elected to represent.
In summing up the matter, Simon said, “Helping is not when your representative on the city council flies off to Cuba when there’s a major meeting for how to rejuvenate Uptown. I hate to say it, but I think it’s irresponsible.”
JUST IN: Minneapolis City Council member Aisha Chughtai appears to have been aboard a plane along with far left Code Pink activists on their way to Cuba yesterday to show support for communism and against Trump's plan to topple the communist government.https://t.co/MhpVy1ih5w pic.twitter.com/9wijjYNyy4
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) March 21, 2026
Crime and public safety under the watch of the DFL/DSA
Simon also talked about how the “defund the police” movement led to a downward spiral in Minneapolis.
“I happen to think that it was much safer here when we had more police in Uptown and they were monitoring things. When all of a sudden we didn’t have all those police, the crime rates soared around here,” she said.
Unfortunately for Simon, this isn’t just statistics and a matter of debate.
Simon recalled, “I was attacked once and then I had a really dangerous near miss at a gas station where I was hemmed in by three different strange vehicles. And it was my errant car alarm that happened to go off that made them all skedaddle. But that’s scary stuff, you know?”
For Simon, the trends in crime and inadequate public safety overlap with a trend she’s been seeing in politics.
“So the whole thing really kicked off with the defund the police thing. And then at caucuses and conventions—that I always participate in—I noticed more and more how they were being run. The conveners were founders of the Twin Cities DSA … they know ‘Robert’s Rules of Order.’ They use them as a weapon. So if you raised an issue that they didn’t like, they find a way in ‘Robert’s Rules of Order‘ to rule you out of order.”
Ultimately, this has led to what Simon calls “a chaotic and discriminatory caucus and party convention system.”
Simon hopes to take action
“I’ve attended so many caucuses and conventions now that are led by DSA people, and I’ve seen the results,” she said.
“We have the Minneapolis convention where 100 people complained and they had a hearing and they ended the endorsement for Omar Fateh because of the chaos. They wanted a voting system that wasn’t proven and they tried an electronic voting system that failed during the convention and it was a disaster,” Simon explained.
“I guess I would have thought after that convention that the DFL would have said, ‘OK, enough of this. We need to switch to primaries.’ But that didn’t happen,” she said.
With regret and reserve, Simon explained to Collin what seems like an unfortunate but necessary political move: “So I think the only thing that can happen to get them to switch to primaries rather than caucuses is I have to sue them. And so I am right now talking to attorneys to find one that will help me. It’s also a violation of the First, the 14th, and the 24th Amendments.”
DSA response: No response
Alpha News reached out to the DSA for comment on Simon’s remarks but did not receive a response.
For Simon, however, the actions and the words of the DSA are cause for concern. As Collin pointed out during the interview, the Twin Cities DSA website states:
“We seek to eliminate and remedy racist oppression created and maintained by white settlers that undermines working class and community solidarity while also acknowledging our own complicities in white supremacy and U.S. imperialism.”
The Twin Cities DSA and the national DSA may be sending their message loud and clear, but Simon fears that her fellow Democrats aren’t listening or paying attention.
“I think that the people that said they support that have never read the real platform. The Twin Cities chapter kind of hid that and buried it. I think that if Democrats really understood what the DSA stands for, they know this is just not gonna fly,” she said.
“I hope it’s not too late and that’s why I want to sue the party so that we have actual valid primary elections where all Democrats can vote … I really believe if all DFL voters were getting up and voting, we would not be electing people to the city council and even the state legislature who ascribe to those policies,” Simon explained.
In speaking matter of factly, she said, “I was raised that when people are in need, you help them. Helping is not getting rid of the police. Helping is not responding to your constituents when they email you and ask a question. Helping is not when your representative on the city council flies off to Cuba when there’s a major meeting for how to rejuvenate Uptown.”
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
