Daniel Lurie argues progressivism led San Francisco astray on public safety, drug crisis

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said Thursday that the city had lost its way and was focused on the wrong things, arguing that the California city was "entrapped in our progressive values."

"We lost our way as a city," he told CNN's Dana Bash in an interview. "We were focused on the wrong things, and today we're focused on common sense. We're focused on good governance. We're focused on delivering results for the people of San Francisco. I said from day one, public safety was going to be my number one priority. The crisis on our streets, the mental health and drug crisis is another top priority of mine. And I want to get the basics of governance right." 

Lurie, a moderate Democrat and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, was elected in 2024 after defeating incumbent London Breed.

"I mean, we got so entrapped in our progressive values and talking about progressivism, that we weren't taking stock of what was happening on our streets," he told Bash. "We had 810 people die of overdose in San Francisco three years ago. There's nothing progressive about that. There's nothing progressive about 30,000 car break-ins. Everyone had to deal with whether or not their car was going to be broken into," the mayor said, adding that the number of car break-ins had dropped 90%.

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Bash asked Lurie about progressivism again, specifically how he defined the word. The mayor said he supported progressive values, such as taking care of the city's immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community.

"But, we got to a point where we said, 'Well, it's that person's right to be on the street using drugs,' or is that person — it's okay for someone to just go in and take what they want from a small business," he said.

"In my mind, that's not progressive," Lurie continued. "There's nothing progressive about small businesses having to shutter up because they're a victim of crime over and over again. There's nothing progressive, as I said before, about 810 people dying of overdose. I'm not going to walk by somebody on the street and not do anything anymore."

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President Donald Trump praised Lurie during a cabinet meeting in March for "really trying" to improve San Francisco since taking office.

"I know they have a mayor who’s trying very hard. He’s a Democrat, but he’s trying very hard," Trump said at the time.

Socialism has been on the rise in the U.S., as several states have seen socialist candidates win their primary elections. In some places, progressive candidates were rejected for more moderate voices as well.

Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff told Fox News Digital that even more liberal voices were calling out progressivism.

"Lurie is right, and it’s not just more moderate voices like his calling this stuff out — we’ve seen AOC try to distance herself from ‘Woke 1’ as well," he said. "Some on the left have absolutely allowed themselves to get bullied into silence and, as funny and extreme a case as it was — that is how you get stories like that Massachusetts lesbian bar with the masking debacle."

"Progressive policies are increasingly popular across the country, particularly on economic issues in these hard economic times," Shroff continued. "But there is also a sense that the DSA left can’t get out of its own way and can never be satisfied."

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"It’s not popular to say, but there is a real contingent on the left that uses these movements to center themselves and try to control others — beyond actual progressive aims," he added. "That is what Lurie is hitting on here and that is in some sense what happened in SF before his tenure. Yes, we want policies that are pro-family, pro-worker, pro-immigrant — that doesn’t mean letting the loudest voices dictate everything at the cost of a functioning city."