Deprogrammed: Former DSA insider reveals ‘frightening’ socialist agenda drove him from ‘extreme’ ideology

Jake Altman, a former executive board member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in Boston, is sounding the alarm about the organization’s efforts to "force their agenda down other people's throats."

"I had been involved in my local union and met some people who were far, far to the left, in like, a frightening way. I was looking for a more pragmatic and thoughtful option on the left that was focused on economic policy," Altman told Fox News Digital.

"One of the concerns I had very quickly was that [the] DSA was beginning to sound more and more like those extreme groups on the left that I, you know, certainly didn't want anything to do with," he continued.

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DSA insider Jake Altman details how the organization is silencing dissident voices, warning America about the DSA's 'frightening' radicalism. (Fox News)

Altman went on to recall an incident in 2017 that raised his concerns, when the DSA elected longtime Austin, Texas, activist Danny Fetonte to its National Political Committee.

A few weeks after his election, Fetonte "abruptly resigned from his position at DSA, and encouraged others to question their membership with the group."

His departure from the organization came after the DSA found that Fetonte had worked for the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) — a police union — and a reality that Altman called "troubling."

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Former President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro speaks during a military ceremony commemorating the 200th anniversary of the presentation of the Sword of Peru to Venezuelan independence hero Simón Bolívar on Nov. 25, 2025, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Getty Images)

The former DSA leader recalled voicing concern in 2019 after the DSA issued a statement that he characterized as "defending or apologizing for the Maduro regime."

"I raised a concern about that … and I said, DSA should be denouncing Maduro … the Democratic socialists and social Democrats in Venezuela are in the opposition — there should be free and fair elections," he continued.

"The person disagreed with me and defended, you know, essentially defended the Maduro regime," Altman revealed.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., conduct a news conference to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act in the U.S. Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

"Flash forward to today … you have DSA members saying, Bernie Sanders, AOC, they're not socialists," Altman relayed.

"They're willing to fall over themselves apologizing for any regime that opposes the United States, simply because it opposes the United States," he added.

"In [the] DSA right now, you've seen a marriage between more traditional Marxist utopianism and what you might call third worldism … boiling it down [it’s] this view that America is a unique evil in the world and that its enemies have a point," he said.

"I personally think that just given the organization and the structure inside, that a lot of dissident voices have been silenced. A lot of dissident voices have left the organization. My advice would be [to] leave," Altman said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the DSA for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi is an Associate Producer at Fox News Digital.