DSA leader's working-class image takes hit as public records pile up contradictions

The contradictions are piling up around New York City Democratic Socialists of America co-chair Gustavo Gordillo, whose claims about his working-class credentials — from being a "union electrician" to his housing and family story — have increasingly collided with public records and other evidence.

Gordillo has repeatedly invoked his family’s immigrant success story while explaining his support for socialism.

"My parents came here, they had nothing," Gordillo told the New York Times in a profile piece earlier this month.

"Their first jobs were in fast food and cleaning houses.

They built success in this country.

And they’re absolutely the exception." According to Gordillo, he advances the cause of socialism because he believes it can "build a world" where his parents’ success story is "not exceptional." LUXURY TRAVEL, SHOPPING, SIX-FIGURE INCOME: BATTLEGROUND DEMS RIPPED FOR 'PHONY' WORKING-CLASS NARRATIVE A 2021 obituary for Gordillo’s paternal grandfather, however, raises questions about the family history behind that account.

Manuel Gordillo, Gordillo’s grandfather, immigrated from Peru to the United States to practice medicine in 1958.

After settling in the United States, Manuel met his future wife in St.

Louis, and the couple later had Gordillo’s father, Gustavo.

The obituary also notes that Gordillo’s grandfather built a successful life as a psychiatrist in Ohio, at one point serving as the president of the Ohio Psychiatric Association, casting doubt on the socialist’s claim that his parents grew up in poverty.

"My dad, his first job in the United States was working at Wendy’s, my mom’s first job was a house cleaner, and they did make a living for themselves, and they had success," Gordillo told Fox News in July.

Gordillo and the New York City Democratic Socialists of America did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

The questions surrounding Gordillo’s account of his family history come after discrepancies emerged over how he has described his occupation and living arrangements.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST HEADED FOR $142K LEGISLATURE SALARY BEGS FOR RENT HANDOUT, DELETES POST AFTER BACKLASH The 38-year-old socialist , for example, told the New York Times that he was renting a modest apartment in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn only for it to be revealed that he was actually living in a $1.4 million townhouse owned by his father in a trendier part of the borough.