Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana launched a strong criticism against the more leftist wing of the Democratic Party, using Cuba as a symbol of the consequences of socialism. He asserted that those currently leading that political formation "know the words of the Cuban national anthem by heart."
Kennedy made the statements on Monday night during an interview on the show Hannity, from Fox News, in which he accused progressive Democratic sectors of promoting policies that, in his view, threaten the future of the United States.
"The ones currently leading the Democratic Party want to tear apart the United States. Just that simple. Open the borders, open the jails, cut the police budget, cut the ICE budget. Each and every one of them knows the lyrics of the Cuban national anthem by heart," asserted the legislator, as reported by Townhall.
Kennedy used the reference to Cuba to bolster his criticisms of the advance of socialist positions within the Democratic Party.
“Socialism is simply sharing misery equally,” he stated.
The senator, known for a political style characterized by sharp remarks and provocative comparisons, directly mentioned several figures he associates with this leftward shift: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani; Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan's U.S. Senate candidate; Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; and Senator Bernie Sanders.
"These people only want to destroy the United States. They feel contempt for the United States, when they should feel gratitude," he stated.
Kennedy stated, however, that those positions do not necessarily represent all Democratic voters and leaders.
"There are many Democrats who don't believe it, but they're afraid to say anything," he assured.
On the other hand, the Republican reserved some of his sharpest remarks for former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he deemed politically irrelevant after she squandered her opportunity.
"Vice President Harris is no longer relevant. She had her chance and wasted it. She can try to ingratiate herself with the Lulu Lenins as much as she wants, but she confuses me with someone who cares about what she thinks. She’s outdated," he said.
Kennedy's statements come amid the rise of candidates associated with the left in various Democratic contests for 2026.
El-Sayed recently won the Michigan primary for the U.S. Senate, while other progressive candidates, including Melat Kiros and Francesca Hong, are seeking to strengthen their positions ahead of the fall elections.
In New York, Mamdani took office as mayor in early 2026 following a campaign in which he openly claimed his status as a democratic socialist.
Cuba returns to the center of the discourse against socialism in the United States
The use of Cuba as a reference to question the American left is not new within the Republican Party and holds particular resonance among Cubans who emigrated to the United States after living under the system established by Fidel Castro.
In April, Cuban-American Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart stated that the Democratic leadership had become the socialist or communist party of the United States.
Other Cuban-American legislators, such as Carlos Giménez and María Elvira Salazar, have also drawn on Cuba's experience on various occasions to warn against policies they see as linked to socialism.
In the case of Kennedy, the reference takes on a particularly provocative tone by turning the Cuban anthem into a metaphor to ideologically characterize the progressive Democratic sector.
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