The Democratic Socialists of America notched historic victories on Tuesday, sending a new wave of left-wing lawmakers to Congress and raising eyebrows over their past statements.At least six more DSA-backed candidates won House races, including New Yorkers Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, Melat Kiros in Colorado, Donavan McKinney in Michigan, Angela Gonzales-Torres in California and Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania.
They’ll join a growing bloc of DSA-aligned pols, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who have pushed the party to embrace more aggressive positions on immigration, policing, foreign policy and green energy.
The incoming freshman lawmakers have campaigned on everything from universal health care and affordable housing to abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement — but their past comments have included calls to abolish police departments, eliminate national borders and radically overhaul America’s economic system.
Here’s a look at some of the DSA candidates’ most head-scratching comments.
Darializa Avila Chevalier: ‘We’re going to defund and abolish’ police
Avila Chevalier, who defeated longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th Congressional District Democratic primary, has one of the most extensive histories of controversial social media posts among the incoming lawmakers.
CNN’s KFILE uncovered thousands of now-deleted posts and reports from her former X account, including a response to a user asking what a better slogan would be than “Defund the Police.”
“F you. We’re going to defund and abolish. You don’t get to water down our movements,” she replied.
Other posts called for “no more police at all ever,” abolishing prisons and getting rid of national borders.
She also called for seizing private property and nationalizing major industries, according to CNN’s review of her deleted account.
Her social media presence also includes a 2021 attack on then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who she told to “F—” herself after Harris warned migrants against entering the country from Mexico.
A separate CNN investigation found her old account also repeatedly praised Marxist ideology and communist figures, including Vladimir Lenin. Her account’s biography at one point read, “how communist of you.”
However, Avila Chevalier has now said that she’s “grown considerably” since writing the posts.
Claire Valdez: Liked post saying ‘Glory to the resistance’ after Oct. 7 attacks
New York Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, who won the 7th Congressional District election, also faced criticism over her social media and public comments about Israel.
According to a screenshot obtained by Jewish Insider, Valdez liked an X post published shortly after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that read: “Glory to the resistance and the people of Palestinian [sic].”
Valdez also sat for an interview with Twitch streamer Lilan Beyer, whose account had previously been suspended after she called Jews a “demonic ethnicity.”
She has also made it clear that she wants to do away with ICE altogether.
“Ultimately it just shouldn’t exist,” Valdez told El País in a September interview when asked about her push to abolish the agency.
Valdez argued that ICE would continue to expand and become more militarized until it was dismantled. Her campaign platform calls for abolishing the agency and replacing the current system with what it describes as humane pathways to citizenship.
Melat Kiros: Calls for abolishing ICE, 9/11 was “inevitable”
Colorado’s Melat Kiros, who defeated longtime Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in the state’s 1st Congressional District primary, has been particularly outspoken about America’s immigration and foreign policies.
In a March interview with Colorado Public Radio, Kiros said she wanted to abolish ICE, arguing that the agency was created during an era of fear and Islamophobia following the September 11 attacks.
“We were able to enforce immigration long before the agency existed, and I think we’d be able to do it long after,” she said. --->READ MORE HERE
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