Rep. Stephen Lynch (D., Mass.) on Thursday said there are politicians who are "bringing in outright socialist ideologies" to the Democratic Party.
Lynch appeared on MSNBC's Meet the Press Daily, where he was asked about 2020 Democratic candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden and how they were going to do in the Democratic primary against more stridently progressive candidates.
"How liberal do you think the Democratic party is right now?" host Steve Kornacki asked. "How much pressure is there going to be on all these candidates, Biden and everybody else from the left is going to sort of force them to move towards the left?"
Lynch said some of the Democrats he considered liberal when he first came to Congress now seem moderate compared to the progressive wing of the Democratic party during this session.
"Now we have people who are bringing in outright socialist ideologies, so that can scare people, especially people above 50 years of age who have a stronger sense of what socialism means," Lynch said. "It may come down to a situation if that wing of the party predominates, people are going to have to decide what are you afraid of more, Donald Trump or socialism?"
"If you look around the world, socialism has not done that well and it would transform the rights and privileges that we have in this country today," Lynch continued.
Lynch didn't single anyone out when speaking about "socialist ideologies," but he appeared to be referring to self-proclaimed Democratic socialists like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, and freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.).
Lynch endorsed Biden earlier this week, saying, "If Joe Biden is in, I'm with Joe Biden. We have a personal relationship, he's a friend. But also, for us, I believe he has the best chance of defeating [President] Donald Trump."