Fox Asked a Dozen University of Michigan Students to Define Socialism and Got Answers From Safety Nets to Collective Ownership
A Fox News poll has 48% of Americans ages 18 to 34 viewing socialism favorably, against 32% overall. On campus in Ann Arbor, at least a dozen more students declined to be filmed because they did not know enough to answer.
Fox News Digital went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and asked students what socialism means. The answers did not match.
The poll. Fox says a recent Fox News poll found 48% of Americans ages 18 to 34 view socialism favorably, compared with 32% of Americans overall.
The answers. More than a dozen students gave Fox definitions that ranged from government-funded safety nets and affordable health care to collective ownership of industry. One said it means "everybody gets a little bit of everything." Another described worker ownership of what they make. Others pointed to Canada or to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. At least a dozen more would not go on camera because they said they did not know enough to give an informed answer.
The students on their own generation. Owen told Fox many people "have a more idealistic image of it." Ahnika said: "If the definition was more widely known, people would support it less honestly."
The wider picture. Fox cites a 2018 Gallup survey in which 17% of respondents described socialism as government ownership or control of business and the economy, the definition Fox says economists usually favor. Fox also notes that the Democratic Socialists of America has grown and won a series of races during Trump's second term.
The Michigan link. Republicans are trying to tie Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to socialism. Fox says he rejects the label despite a long association with the DSA. Fox also quotes Vice President JD Vance from a July interview: "Does the socialism thing scare me? Yes. Is it the wrong solution? Yes," adding that socialism is the alternative if people lose faith that the American dream is attainable.
Note for readers: this is a small, unscientific set of campus interviews selected by a reporter, not a survey. We relied on Fox's account and did not see the poll itself.