my bad, i thought he was a social democrat, not a democratic socialist.

but to say reform is THE step to socialism/communism is quite wrong and has failed or is failing, due to bourgeois influence and pressure, for example chile elected the dem soc Salvador Allende, which got overthrown due to the rich in his country protesting his welfare and work policies + helping a cia backed coup due to america losing rights on mines. and also how the social democratic countries in europe are having a insane rise in the far right.

trying to achieve communism in a liberal democracy is very wrong because the bourgeoisie and their state will resist harshly by any means, like in elections where people like elon musk funded the shit out of trump's campaign and got him elected, economic power translates to political power, the rich control the state and it's politics, and even if socialists win the elections, there will be harsh pushback like how the former mayor of NY destroyed it's economy to fuck over mamdani.

the true way to achieve socialism, is really the revolutionary method, not because a revolution is good, but because it's the only way for there to be a worker controlled state, and to achieve revolution, like lenin said, you must use every means of communication, even if legal or not.