For a former social studies teacher, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz missed the lessons of the 2020 presidential election.

“One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness,” Walz said in a “White Dudes for Harris” livestream in July.

It was a knucklehead move.

Two days after the 2020 election, in which Democrats won the White House but lost ground in Congress, House Democrats held a conference call to discuss what went wrong, Reason magazine reported. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D–Va.) was unequivocal: “We need to not ever use the words socialist or socialism ever again,” she said.

Rep. James Clyburn (D–S.C.) urged members not to run on “Medicare for All or socialized medicine” in the future. Even some progressive Democrats echoed these concerns. “I think Republicans did get some traction trying to scare people on this socialist narrative,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D–Calif.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “What’s the point of embracing a phrase like that?”

What indeed? But Walz did, and in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris defended his earlier remarks to host Shannon Bream.

Bream cited the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of socialism, which defines it as “a system of society or group living in which there is no private property,” adding that “means of production are owned and controlled by the state.”

“Did you mean to advocate for that here in the US?” Bream asked Walz.

Walz two-stepped, saying he’s a capitalist and believes in “moral capitalism,” the Hill reported.

“Republicans oftentimes talk about socialism, and what I would make the case of is we build our roads collectively together,” he said. “I don’t think anybody’s arguing that you should have to build your own road from your house to your business place or whatever. So I said this definition that the right uses about these things that we collectively do together.”

We hope Walz explained concepts better to his students when he was in the classroom.

But he defended using the term “socialism,” saying it is “what the right uses.”

The right does use the term, but not in a good way. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and his fellow Democratic Socialists have embraced and prosletized progressive ideas that have taken root in blue states around the country, often with poor results. Check any city that defunded or cut police budgets and the subsequent rise in crime, or the porous borders policy that has crushed cities and states with the staggering cost of sheltering and caring for migrants.

“Look, the point being is, is Donald Trump says that this is a socialist or Marxist government,” Walz added. “Kamala Harris is actually doing just the opposite that — creating a free economy that works and people can grow into the middle class.”

Walz might want to chat with Harris about her price control idea, a practice implemented by the former Soviet Union, or as Walz might put it, the Union of Soviet Neighborly Republics.

Whether Walz or Harris ever use the “s” word again is of little consequence. The ideas they espouse are in the same progressive vein as Joe Biden’s, and many, many Americans have had enough.

Editorial cartoon by Bob Gorrell (Creators Syndicate)