FIRST ON FOX: Roy Cooper, the former North Carolina governor and a Democratic candidate for the Senate, believes his party should incorporate a big-tent approach to an emerging wave of socialist candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
When asked if he would sign the Promise to America, a repudiation of socialist stances put out by moderate Democrats, Cooper said he wouldn’t.
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"I don’t see any need to," Cooper said in video footage obtained by Fox News Digital.
"I think the party needs a wide spectrum, particularly at a time when the Republican Party is shrinking and having all kinds of loyalty tests. I think we need to have all kinds of folks to be a part of our party."
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Cooper’s comment comes as he wages a bid to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and win over a historically Republican-leaning state. It also raises questions of whether moderate Democrats believe their platforms can coexist with the aims of the DSA.
The DSA espouses positions like abolishing the U.S. Senate, establishing public ownership of corporations and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to its website.
The group paints a picture of what those policies could look like in practice on its website.
"You have no debt. You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded. Food, education, energy, medicine and transportation aren’t for-profit businesses; they are common goods and utilities," the group states.
Cooper is not affiliated with or backed by the DSA and has pitched himself as a candidate with an ability to reach across the aisle. His campaign has highlighted his ability to work with a Republican-controlled legislature during his tenure as governor from 2017 to 2025.
In his own words, Cooper has pushed back on questions about being tied to the DSA.
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"For the record, no," he told The New York Times about whether he was a communist. "I have a record of working across the aisle. The people of North Carolina know that I can be a senator that puts them first. Before power, before party, before politics. I feel confident that, at the end of the day, they’ll send me to Washington."
When asked if Cooper’s platform is at odds with the DSA’s views, Cooper’s campaign declined to comment, noting that his commitments are reserved for his constituents.
"The only pledge Roy makes is to the people of North Carolina. Roy is not a socialist, and he will work with anyone, including Republicans, as he has done his entire career to lower costs for hardworking families and fight for North Carolina," his campaign told Fox News Digital.
Some Republicans are skeptical of that reasoning.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, believes moderates are afraid to challenge their progressive flank as candidates championing the far left have surged in the 2026 midterm primaries.
"That dynamic is dangerous right now because they are terrified of the extreme left. Finding a middle ground on ideological issues right now is … the prospects for success, particularly between now and election day, are not high," Cruz said at an energy summit hosted by Club for Growth and Arnold Ventures Thursday.
"Schumer is truly terrified right now," he added, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
In the video interview, Cooper said he believes the party will only weaken itself in its resistance to the administration if it doesn’t band together.
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"Particularly now when we’re in such difficult straits, and we’re in a foxhole right now. We’ve all got to be together to take our government back," Cooper said.
"We could fall to the autocracy anytime we don’t stick together. So, I don’t see the need signing something."
Having secured the Democratic nomination, Cooper now heads to the Nov. 3 general election, where he faces Republican nominee Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee.
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