/ CBS News
The following is the transcript of an interview with Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 16, 2026.
ED O'KEEFE: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We turn now to Pennsylvania State Representative Chris Rabb. He's the Democratic Party's nominee in the third district of Pennsylvania. That includes parts of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Representative, you're not Congressman yet, but Representative, thank you for being here this morning. We appreciate it.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE CHRIS RABB: Nope.
ED O'KEEFE: So I'm curious--
REP. RABB: --My pleasure.
ED O'KEEFE: --and part of the reason why we wanted to have someone like you here, given that you are the Democratic nominee, but also a member of the DSA, what is a voter getting from a Democrat and a member of the DSA like you that they aren't necessarily getting from a Democrat like Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who we had on earlier?
REP. RABB: That's a great question. I listened to that segment, and it seems like we have a lot in common. We're against corruption. We want to fight for working people. We want- we believe that health care is a human right. These are things that we want- increased wages. I support a living wage for all. So I think we have a lot more in common than people would think.
ED O'KEEFE: But when he says that socialism is a failed experiment, what's your response to that?
REP. RABB: Well, I imagine he supports Social Security. In a purely capitalistic free market system, we would have no Social Security. We would have no Medicare. We would have no Medicaid. We would have no public education. We would have no interstate highway system. We would not have firefighters. These things are things that are brought to us by different- different views that have molded us into the nation we are today. It's not one thing. This is not a purely capitalistic society. There is capitalism in China, in Finland, everywhere. Like this is something that we have to understand is a mixture, and it is an evolution. Pure capitalism has never worked. Communism is not something that we've seen effectively work. What are we doing to make sure that we are moving in the right direction, though? That we are transforming this nation so that it can take care of everyone. How is it that we have our first trillionaire and we still have veterans who are unhoused?
ED O'KEEFE: You know, our news poll out this morning shows that most Democrats have a positive view of socialism, but among all Americans overall, just 35% do. You've- you've- you've you've made the argument here so far, but I'm curious: what do you do to try to win over skeptics, the two-thirds of the country who doesn't think this is a good idea?
REP. RABB: Well, I wasn't running for socialism. I was running for the people of the third congressional district who want a fighter, and that's something that is more important than the labels that are used in polls because the poll didn't define socialism. The poll didn't define capitalism. The poll didn't define free market system or free enterprise. It didn't do those. It polled on how people responded to labels that have been put into the ether without any context, historical, any analysis, and I think once you define these things, people can make more informed decisions.
ED O'KEEFE: You are running in what is the most Democratic district in America, like 40- plus 40% Democratic advantage, so it's- it's perhaps understandable, or that helps explain how a socialist-backed candidate can emerge. But there are others in the Democratic Party writ large--
REP. RABB: --No, I have to push back, Ed.
ED O'KEEFE: Why is that?
REP. RABB: I got to push back. You can't conflate Democratic performance index with people who support a democratic socialist. I ran for months long before anyone mentioned that I was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. I didn't run for socialism. I ran for the people. Just because people are more likely to vote for Democrats does not mean that they are inherently more inclined to support this ideology or the other. It just showed that in my district, in my race for the Democratic primary, that I came out 14 points ahead in a four-person race because I was a fighter and I talked about issues that mattered. And socialism did not come up.
ED O'KEEFE: Okay, and actually, our poll this morning shows that Democratic voters overall are looking for fighters or people who are certainly promising to do so. I do want to play, however, something that former ambassador, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said this morning on Sunday Morning in conversation with our colleague Robert Costa regarding the progressive versus rest of the party sort of split or discussion that y'all are having. Take a listen to what he said.
[START SOUND ON TAPE]
RAHM EMANUEL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: This again, I'm about flipping red districts to blue. I'm not about taking blue districts and making them midnight blue. You want to see a raise in the minimum wage? Winning over Democratic districts is not the way to get it there. We've got to win Republican districts.
[END SOUND ON TAPE]
ED O'KEEFE
What's your response to the mayor's strategic argument there?
REP. RABB: I think listening to folks who have been institutionalists and corporate Dems is probably the wrong thing to do. When what your own poll shows is that there's an exhaustion, there is anger at centrists and institutionalists, and this anti-establishment moment, means that we want bold things that are not left or right, but what are the things that are going to move people forward. And hey, take me to Kentucky. I think I can make that case pretty strongly. And as someone who is five generations in Kentucky, I think this is something that transcends blue districts.
ED O'KEEFE: Okay, on the- on the issue of institutionalists in the party, I'm curious, are you someone who would vote for Hakeem Jeffries to be speaker, should Democrats take majority next January?
REP. RABB: Sorry about that. He- he hasn't asked me, but I can tell you this, he's not going to run unless we secure the- the new majority, which is what I'm focusing on. I'm focusing on making sure we have good progressive candidates who are winning in these primaries and who will win on November 3. And when we get a new Democratic majority. I would love to have that conversation with them, person to person. We have not yet met.
ED O'KEEFE: Okay. Now, look, I know you're a Democratic candidate for Congress. You are, however, a member of the DSA, and there are opponents of that movement who point to the failed socialist governments in Latin America as proof that socialists don't always work. And the DSA, just in the last few days, put out a statement commemorating the 100th birthday of Fidel Castro, which says in part he was an organizer, a fighter, and endures as a stalwart symbol of anti-imperialist struggle and self-determination for the Global South. Do you agree with that sentiment, and- and does it concern you that this type of celebration of Fidel Castro is what might validate people's concerns with the DSA?
REP. RABB: I am not concerned with how people construe this organization. I am interested in finding what we have in common so that we can move this country forward based on bold policies, which that poll suggests people are wanting, irrespective of political ideology or generation. The other thing I want to mention too is, and this is something that I hear centrists and establishment players talk about, is if we want to reach these people who are outside of, you know, blue districts, how about we actually focus on those folks who live in highly populated blue districts who don't show up because they're so exhausted and disaffected with the Democratic Party? If we reach those folks who are inclined to vote for the Democrats but don't because we're not fighting for them, we have a far more likely chance of winning than reaching out to folks who under no circumstances would consider folks who embrace values like health care is a human right, or housing is a human right, or not having a trillionaire class. There's some people we're not going to move, but many people we can and I think it's not about left or right, it's about moving whole communities forward in the most meaningful ways. And as it relates to these statements about other folks in other countries, I hope we're all anti-imperialist, I hope we're all anti-fascist. I don't think these are particularly controversial stances.
ED O'KEEFE: Alright, well, we'll leave it there. You are a big part of the debate in your party about who it should be focused on and how to do it and that's why we wanted you here. Representative Rabb, thank you for joining us, we appreciate it. And we'll be right back with our political panel, stay with us.
