Co-hosts of the “Pod Save America” podcast spoke about the shockwaves in the Democratic Party after multiple democratic socialist candidates won their primaries in New York and warned that some of their views range from “moronic to abhorrent.”
Democratic socialist candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier was one of three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who won shocking primary victories in New York last week. Her history of controversial far-left rhetoric and policies has caused a wave of outrage among more traditional Democratic figures, such as strategist James Carville, who said, “There’s just some sh– that I can’t be in the same tent with” as he proposed a formal schism and declared, “And I’m not in that f—ing political party.”
“Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter, played a clip of Carville’s condemnation, as well as reactions from other Democrats, and turned to co-host Dan Pfeiffer for his thoughts.
“No one should dismiss this,” Pfeiffer said of the incumbents who lost their seats to far-left challengers.
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“I think the thing we should take away is, like so much else that’s happening in this country, when progressives beat establishment candidates — in the Second District of Maine, in the California race where Randy Villegas won, Graham Platner forcing Janet Mills out of the race — like, there’s a giant warning sign for the Democratic establishment here,” he said. “Where the support of people like Schumer or even Hakeem Jeffries is certainly not an asset in your campaign. It may be a detriment.”
He continued by suggesting, “It is very clear that the groups on the left — Justice Democrats, Democratic Socialists of America, Our Revolution — are out organizing, out fundraising, outworking, outmaneuvering the traditional party institutions. That is happening. They have captured the energy. They’re being more creative. They’re being more strategic. They’re being more aggressive.”
This, he said, is a bellwether on multiple levels for the party and its base.
“And if you are someone in the Democratic establishment, you should be deeply concerned about what this says about where the party is, what the standing of the party is, what the ability of the party infrastructure is to actually win elections. So this is a big deal.”
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However, he noted that New York is an overwhelmingly liberal area, and is not entirely representative of the entire country, and even there, moderate candidates can win in certain districts.
“Really here, the panic is over Darializa Avila Chevalier. And I will just say she might be the most left-wing candidate to ever win a Democratic primary in our lifetime,” Favreau suggested.
While he said that he may have some room to forgive old tweets, there are some controversies of hers that are beyond the pale.
“Here’s where I have a problem,” Favreau said. “She has not apologized for attending an anti-Israel rally on October 8, 2023 — a rally that was condemned by Zohran Mamdani, AOC, and Brad Lander, who actually left the DSA because it promoted that rally — where attendees chanted that Hamas’s resistance was justified the day after October 7, the day after they slaughtered a thousand Israelis. And to this day, she still defends attending that rally.”
“The other problem I have – she sat for an interview with the New York editorial board last week where she said she’s against all deportations,” he continued. “She’s for open borders because, quote, ‘Bordering is a very modern construct, actually.’”
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“The borders are in our hearts and our minds,” Favreau joked, before continuing, “She wants to abolish prisons and refused to say, when asked — she got four different chances on this — refused to say that a convicted murderer should be sentenced to any jail time at all.”
“Now maybe she turns over a new leaf in Congress and her voting record doesn’t match some of these more extreme positions. I hope so. But I think the reason I bring this up is because when Democrats get questions about this, I think the answer is easy and important to give, which is that she currently holds a range of views that go from moronic to abhorrent,” the host said. “And not only do those views not align with most Democrats in the country — nearly all Democrats in the country, all elected Democrats actually, most elected Democratic Socialists — but I don’t even think they align with a lot of the people who probably voted for her.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Avila Chevalier’s campaign but did not receive an immediate reply.
