Labels can be useful, but we should also recognize that you can be a leftist and still want Liberalism as an outcome - if only temporarily.

I think most leftists would agree that many countries, like the US for example, are no longer liberal democracies. In the US votes are suppressed to a huge extent, public services have been reduced to almost nothing, and exploitation of working people is rewarded to the exclusion of all else.

It is OK to want Liberalism in the US or similar countries as a stepping stone to Socialism. It makes sense to get your house in order before trying to make further progress. Without massive military might behind it, a revolution is unlikely to succeed in the US, and therefore progress is likely to be slow.

No matter what Marxist-Lenninists or MLMs on Reddit say, a non-revolutionary approach is a valid thing to advocate for. We should be trying to build alliances with Liberals to achieve the things that we both want, as well as to begin building class consciousness among more people, and beginning to build left unity so that we have an actual chance of success.