On July 17, Rep. Tony Wied published an op-ed on Fox News warning that socialism "threatens the American Dream." He pointed to some primary wins by self-described socialists in New York and quoted House Democrats, via Axios, calling the result an "earthquake."
Here's what Wied's op-ed did not mention: a single concrete idea to lower costs, save jobs, or protect health care for the people of Wisconsin's 8th District — the people who actually sent him to Congress.
That's the tell. While his constituents deal with real, painful problems right now, their congressman is spending his time on cable-news culture war.
What's actually happening back home
Wied represents northeast Wisconsin. Here's the reality on the ground in his district:
- Jobs are disappearing. Hundreds of workers have already lost their jobs: 240 when the Saputo cheese plant in Suamico closed, and 93 at Marinette Marine, laid off after the Navy cut its order for Wisconsin-built frigates from six to two. Meanwhile Wied applauded Trump's tariffs — the same tariffs Manitowoc's Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry says are raising its costs and cutting demand.
- Health care is on the chopping block. Wied voted for the "Big Beautiful Bill" that the Evers administration projects will strip health insurance from 270,000 Wisconsinites — after telling his district, "like President Trump, I won't support a budget that guts Medicaid."
- He won't even face voters. When constituents wanted an in-person town hall, Wied held a phone-in call instead. Local Democrats hosted their own, under the banner "photo ops don't feed families."
Cheese workers laid off. Shipbuilders out of work. A quarter-million people at risk of losing their insurance. And their representative's big move this week was an op-ed about Zohran-style socialists in New York City.
Fear-mongering is not a jobs plan
Wied likes to talk about the "American free enterprise system." But the actual free enterprise in his district — the cheese plants and the shipyards — is the thing losing jobs, and Wisconsin manufacturers are paying for the tariffs he cheered for. He didn't write an op-ed about that. He didn't offer a plan to bring those jobs back. He wrote about socialism.
This is the oldest trick in the book: when you don't want to talk about your own record, point at a scary boogeyman somewhere else. New York socialists aren't laying off anyone in Suamico or Marinette. Wied's votes are the ones hitting his constituents in the wallet.
The bottom line
The families of northeast Wisconsin don't need their congressman to be a Fox News columnist. They need him to save their jobs, protect their health care, and show up to answer their questions.
Tony Wied had the time and the platform to do something useful this week. He chose to scaremonger about socialism instead. That choice tells you everything about who he's really working to impress — and it isn't the people back home.
Source
- Tony Wied, "Socialism's rise inside the Democratic Party now threatens the American Dream," Fox News, July 17, 2026.
