How far left has the Democratic Party shifted? Here's one answer: A violent antifa leader, recently charged with assaulting two Marines on the street in Philadelphia, had been working with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Democratic members of Congress to implement regulations on consumers and small businesses.

On Nov. 17, two U.S. Marines were attacked in Philadelphia by a group of antifa activists. One of those recently charged in the attack with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation, and terroristic threats was Joseph Alcoff. Alcoff also ran Smash Racism D.C., the organization that laid siege to the home of Tucker Carlson and chased Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife out of a restaurant where they were dining.

On social media, Alcoff, using an alias, has called for the overthrow of capitalism and the institution of communism in the United States.

Meanwhile, as campaign manager at a liberal “consumer advocacy” group called Americans for Financial Reform, or AFR, Alcoff reportedly helped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, draft financial regulations which have had a harmful effect on consumers and small businesses. In fact, he sat in on three meetings with former CFPB Director Richard Cordray to discuss rule-making.

Alcoff’s past work has also been praised by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc. He has also appeared with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and with House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

It's deeply disturbing to learn that a radical individual who promoted anarchy and allegedly committed physical violence was able to help shape sweeping financial policy and regulation impacting millions of Americans. But that's just one symptom of a much deeper problem that is the Democratic Party's radicalization.

The 2020 election is just around the corner, and the leading Democrats’ plans to defeat President Trump are just warmed over socialism with an attitude. It's a grab bag of "big government" fantasies, featuring job-crushing financial regulations and a confiscatory tax regime. Add to that violence and intimidation, and you have a toxic cocktail of economic depression, class resentment, and unbridled rage.

For his part, Trump is making the Democrats own the failures of socialism. In his recent State of the Union address, Trump delivered words that were both a warning and a call to action. “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” he said. “America was founded on liberty and independence, not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

These words should hearten all lovers of liberty and free enterprise in America, especially since socialist and other radical policy proposals are being proposed more frequently by the Democratic Party’s radical left wing than ever before.

New and emerging Democratic leaders, such as freshmen Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., are openly embracing the label of “socialist.” This past fall, Politico ran a symposium with left-wing figures titled, “What Would a Socialist America Look Like?” The Guardian has covered the surge in support for socialism among young Americans. And upon the emergence of Sen. Bernie Sanders. I-Vt., as a popular alternative to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary ahead of 2016, the progressive magazine The Nation declared: “Socialism in America is closer than you think.”

In response to President Trump’s warning, Ocasio-Cortez took to MSNBC to accuse the president of an “ad hominem” — no, the term doesn't fit — attack on socialism, and defended the socialist economics of Venezuela by claiming that the conflict there is really “an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy.”

Now, Ocasio-Cortez has introduced her “Green New Deal,” which would eliminate cars, air travel, and nuclear power, among other things. Even liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called it a “green dream.” Regardless, it seems that Ocasio-Cortez intends to create socialism even if it means putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work.

As out of step as these ideas might seem, it's not enough just to mock them. We must not only educate our fellow Americans on the benefits of capitalism and free enterprise, but more importantly work to ensure that those who promote intimidation and violence are exposed and brought to justice. Additionally, those who associate with these kinds of individuals in any way must be held accountable.

As President Trump said just last week: “We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls.”

Ken Blackwell, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, is a member of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty's board, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, and Ohio's former secretary of state.