Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took aim at the rise of socialism among Democrat politicians on Wednesday.
“The U.S. economy is doing terrific,” Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC. “And as the president talked about last night, his economic plan is working. We’re not going back to socialism. We’re going on an economic plan for America that works.”
“We don’t believe in a centralized planned economy where the government puts restraints on it,” he said in the “Squawk Box” interview.
Watch CNBC’s full interview with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin from CNBC.
Mnuchin’s comments echoed those of President Donald Trump during his second State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday.
“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” Trump said. “Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”
The Democratic party has been increasingly friendly toward socialism. Self-identified socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib have joined long-term socialist Bernie Sanders on Capitol Hill. Membership in the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organization in the country, is soaring. Last year, a Gallup poll found that Democrats had more favorable views of socialism than capitalism.
Not all Democrats have jumped on board the socialist bandwagon.
“I believe in capitalism,” Massachusetts Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a recent interview with Bloomberg. “I see the wealth that can be produced — but let’s be really clear: Capitalism without rules is theft.”