> Populist demagogues from Trump to Zohran are getting elected.

That is quite the comparison. It also doesn't seem correct at all. What world are you living in where Zohran is a populist demagogue?

Capitalist progressives unfortunately do view anything toward the left as (false) populism. Steven Pinker and the like. Even the main Democrat party does too, look at what they framed Bernie as. They manufacture such truths. As elites.

N.b. if you look up 'populism' on Wikipedia a huge portion of the page explains the contested term is sociologically vague and did not have the negative connotation it does in mainstream discourse. Most people are not aware of this.