City Club braces for backlash over DSA leader's visit
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Ashik Siddique, the national co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), will speak at the City Club of Cleveland Sept. 24 during an election year when socialism is ascendant.
Why it matters: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other DSA-aligned leaders across the country, including Cleveland Councilman Tanmay Shah, are emblematic of a generation disillusioned with establishment Democrats.
- Younger voters are morally outraged by American foreign policy and eager to see public money go toward expanded public housing and health care, among other things.
The intrigue: The City Club may be anticipating pushback over Siddique's appearance.
- In an unusually lengthy post explaining the invitation, the City Club noted that DSA positions on policing and Israel might be characterized as "extreme or controversial" and recalled past controversies surrounding speakers like socialist Eugene V. Debs and anti-Zionist scholar Ilan Pappé.
Zoom in: The Jewish Federation of Cleveland publicly opposed Pappé's 2018 appearance after first raising its concerns privately with City Club leadership.
What we're watching: There is no comparable public campaign against Siddique's visit — certainly nothing like the opposition to the Center for Christian Virtue's Aaron Baer in January or HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy in May, both of which led to protests outside the City Club.
What they're saying: The City Club's Dan Moulthrop tells Axios that the blog post was not in response to private objections from members or donors, but merely to acknowledge that members of the community may find Siddique controversial.