A Romanian immigrant who moved to the United States in pursuit of a better life said Americans favoring communism need to learn from history or "nothing will save you."
"I'm not saying that every system in the world is perfect, but to be in favor of communism, considering history and everything that has been documented throughout the years, it's sad. It's really sad," Bogdan Laurentiu told Fox News.
Laurentiu, 34, moved from Romania, which was previously occupied by the Soviet Union, to the U.S. with a friend in 2010, leaving his entire family behind. He works in retail management, lives in the Northeast and says he has "no regrets to this day."
He said he made more sacrifices than he could count in order to succeed in the U.S. But after a decade in the U.S. he said he feels, "very grateful, very honored to be here and to have the opportunity to live in America."
A Soviet-sponsored youth rally in the Lustgarten in Berlin, Germany, 1st June 1950. The youth carry huge portraits of Communist leaders such as Joseph Stalin (pictured). (FPG/Getty Images)
"People all across the globe see America as a beacon of freedom and a beacon of hope," Laurentiu told Fox News. But he added that loud criticism from American media and the political left have affected the superpower’s reputation.
Laurentiu said the most shocking surprise he encountered since moving to the U.S. was learning that a growing number of Americans favor communism.
"If anybody would have told me before I came to America there would come a day when I would encounter or meet American citizens in favor of communism, I probably would have laughed in their face," he said.
West Berlin citizens continue their vigil atop the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandeburg Gate in this November 10, 1989 file photo. The 10th anniversary off the "fall" of the Berlin wall is coming up on November 9, 1999. (REUTERS)
Laurentiu said the memory of living under Soviet rule is still fresh in the minds of eastern Europeans.
"In my 24 years of living in Romania, I have not heard one person talk positively about communism," he said.
"But when you talk with people here about it and you tell them about … the lived experiences of people that lived under communism and how life was there … they tell you that you don't know what you're talking about," Laurentiu told Fox News.
"We're not talking about socialism here. We are talking about actual leftists that are in favor of communism and everything that that entails … because they read a theory," he said, referring to Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto.
In this Oct. 24, 1956 file photo, people gather around a fallen statue of Soviet leader Josef Stalin in front of the National Theater in Budapest, Hungary. The uprising in Hungary began on Oct. 23, 1956 with demonstrations against the Stalinist regime in Budapest and was crushed eleven days later by Soviet tanks amid bitter fighting. For Hungary, a pro-Russian leader in the White House offers hope the Western world might end the sanctions imposed over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its role in eastern Ukraine. Many Poles, instead, fear a U.S-Russian rapprochement under Trump could threaten their own security interests. To most Poles, NATO represents the best guarantee for an enduring independent state in a difficult geographical neighborhood. (Arpad Hazafi/Associated Press)
Laurentiu was never interested in politics until the defund the police movement became popular across the nation in 2020. It prompted him to look more closely at political forces within the country.
He now runs a political commentary TikTok account, "The Conservative Immigrant," which has over 110,000 followers.
"It's very important for us to learn history," Laurentiu said. "And not just a part of history that suits our narrative."
"A lot of people are just woke because it's trendy, because it's popular … rather than having a little bit of critical thinking and acknowledging everything that this country is offering," he told Fox News. "The system is not perfect. I'll be the first one to admit that. It's not perfect. But if you put your mind to it, the impossible can happen."
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