Amish Shah is the socialist seeking a congressional seat in Arizona's 1st District. After he won his primary in July, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dropped an ad showing just how far-left and radical Shah really is.
As a nominee in one of the country's most competitive toss-up races, Arizona voters need to know what Shah stands for as he hopes to represent a Republican district. In 2019, during a Phoenix Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) event, Shah stumped for Bernie Sanders. Newly unearthed video shows Shah's remarks.
"You guys know who I am. My name is Amish Shah, I'm an emergency physician, I've been practicing for 15 years," Shah said.
"We have a system that is based on the free market, and there's a lot things that are wrong with that," he continued. "No other industrialized country, a First World country, offers healthcare through a free market." Shah has supported socialized medicine since 2024, as seen in a clip reported on by the New York Post. At the time, Shah deflected on his stance, which would have eliminated private health insurance. “As a physician who has been practicing medicine for over 20 years, I know that there are advantages and disadvantages to every healthcare system. These are real people’s lives, and the patients and voters I have spoken to do not appreciate the use of this topic as an opportunity for cynical political attacks,” Shah told The Post.
But in 2019, the argument for single-payer healthcare was "one of the first things" that drew Shah to Bernie Sanders' candidacy. "He also had the economy security argument really nailed for those of us who have just watched the gap between rich and poor grow to the point where those in power have the control as well, and that's the problem."
Shah believes we have less economic mobility in America than they do in Europe. "In this country, we have less economic mobility than even Europe, which was thought to be the class society," he said.
Bernie Sanders, Shah said, has an "authenticity."
"There was an authenticity about him that I think so many of us were drawn to; he was coming at it from with his heart," Shah said. "That's what drew me to his campaign." Shah would go on to knock doors for Sanders.
Shah also credits Sanders with reforming the Democrat Party. "The message is growing; it's getting louder. What's amazing is that this wasn't really part of the conversation before Bernie came around," he said. "And this has now become a national platform, and he's taken the Democratic Party and, in my opinion, improved our platform."
The bottom line is Shah is crediting Bernie Sanders with bringing socialism into the Democrat Party, and voters should know that a vote for Democrats is a vote for economy-destroying policies that will ruin our healthcare.
"Amish Shah just got caught on tape confessing his love affair with Bernie Sanders, and bragging about how the socialist senator 'improved' the Democrat Party," said NRCC Spokesperson Ben Petersen. "Shah can't run from his radical record showing he's a Bernie Bro through and through, and voters will reject his socialist agenda."