I think part of the issue is we’re kind of taking about two different words here.
Liberal as in someone who believes in economic neoliberalism generally means someone who supports free-market capitalism in some form. This is what socialists/communists generally mean when they’re insulting someone for being a liberal online.
Liberal, in the US political sense, has also changed to mean something more like socially liberal that “considers government as a crucial instrument for amelioration of social inequities (such as those involving race, gender, or class).” Which is what people I think mean when they say conservatives vs. liberals in the US, or when self-described progressive dems/democratic socialists will still claim to be very liberal or in favor of liberal policies.