William Lawrence, a Democratic congressional hopeful in Michigan, said in a 2024 podcast interview that it would be “just” to “redistribute all the land and all the money” and spoke approvingly of pursuing a “world without borders.”
Lawrence, who is running in a closely watched swing district and has recently ended his membership with the Democratic Socialists of America, now says those sweeping left-wing ideas no longer reflect his views.
During an October 2024 episode of the “Hegemonicon” podcast, Lawrence, now 36, made the comments while speaking with Mijente Policy Director Jacinta González. “I think we are lacking for a framework that can make sense of how to be revolutionary in the sense of truly, truly, wanting a world without borders and wanting to redistribute all the land and all the money,” he said.
He continued by arguing that such a redistribution “would be just if it were to occur,” saying today’s inequality is rooted in “violence and evil deeds.”
Lawrence, a co-founder of the progressive Sunrise Movement, also weighed the tension between pursuing transformative political goals and focusing on immediate organizing — describing the question as whether activists should meet people “where they’re at” and work on efforts that could “save somebody’s life now” or “build power now.”
Responding to the resurfaced remarks, Lawrence told the Washington Free Beacon — which first reported the podcast comments Wednesday — that, “Like many millennials, I’ve done my fair share of thinking out loud on the internet.”
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He added that his current position is different from the language he used on the podcast. “I don’t support open borders,” Lawrence said, while emphasizing that he remains “a staunch critic of the political status quo” and of what he called the “obscene concentration of wealth and power” that he believes distorts politics and sidelines working people.
Lawrence’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
The progressive emerged from a competitive Democratic primary to take on incumbent Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, which includes the state capital, Lansing.
Earlier this year, Lawrence fawned over notorious far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, but has since taken steps to moderate his image, scrubbing several past social media posts in which he espoused far-left views.
In the past, Lawrence backed defunding the police and ripped into black Democratic leaders for embracing the “establishment, capitalist, imperialist American power.”
During the interview with González, the two groused about both President Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris vowing to be “tougher” on immigration during the ongoing presidential campaign.
“If we lived in a humane society, this would be all the excuse that we needed not only to mitigate climate change, but to throw open the gates and welcome all of the migrants, the refugees, the asylum seekers from climate disaster and conflict all around the world,” he said.
“Of course, what we’re seeing is the exact opposite, which is a fortress mentality.”
