NYT’s Peters: House Dems I Talk to ‘Really Worried’ About Being ‘Beholden’ to Democratic Socialists if Dems Narrowly Take HouseIan Hanchett 22 Aug 2026
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” New York Times National Correspondent Jeremy Peters said that House Democrats that he talks to “are really worried” that if they don’t win a dozen seats, “they’re going to be beholden to the new Squad and this handful of Democratic Socialists who will, essentially, have veto power”, something that CNN host and Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash agreed with.
Peters said that “the Democrats have a real enthusiasm problem, right? A lot of voters are looking at the Republicans and Trump and the Democrats and saying, I’m not thrilled with either choice. And so, that enthusiasm problem, even though, Bill, you’re right, Democrats would really have to screw something up to lose in this midterm election, it’s really not clear how well they will do, even if they have a majority, because the Democrats in the House that I talk to are really worried that, if they don’t pick up a dozen seats, they’re going to be beholden to the new Squad and this handful of Democratic Socialists who will, essentially, have veto power over the entire Democratic establishment agenda. That’s a big concern.”
Bash responded, “Yeah.”
She elaborated that “if it’s a slim majority, just like you’re seeing on the right with the Tea Party…if it’s a slim majority, minority rules, within the party. And so, if you have, let’s say, you had four members of the Squad and then it was growing, let’s say you have ten people who are absolutely I’m not going to do anything unless you pass Medicare for All, just for example, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), if he doesn’t have a majority of more than ten people, he’s screwed.”
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/22/nyts-peters-house-dems-i-talk-to-really-worried-about-being-beholden-to-democratic-socialists-if-dems-narrowly-take-house/
