Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) condemned Mamdani-backed congressional candidates and distanced himself from the party’s hard left shift following a number of primary victories in New York this past Tuesday.
“Anti-Israel. Anti-America. Anti-Western Civilization. Why am I the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate that refuses to excuse this or defend any of those self-identified communists?” Fetterman said in response to Darializa Avila Chevalier’s victory in New York’s 13th congressional district.
Avila Chevalier, who was one of three self-styled socialist candidates to unseat a Democrat incumbent in Tuesday’s primaries, helped to found a Columbia University on-campus organization that calls for the “total eradication of Western civilization” and bragged about using the American flag as a napkin.
She has repeatedly doubled down on her past stances and refused to distance herself from pro-communist stances in the days following her election victory.
Other DSA or Mamdani-backed winners in the June 23 primaries included State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, who won the Democratic nomination in New York’s 7th Congressional District to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, and former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in the 10th Congressional District.
On Saturday, Fetterman told the New York Post that the recent elections supported an earlier description he had given of the party. “I said months ago, I said the Democratic Party is becoming an orgy of socialism. These recent elections vindicate my description,” he stated.
Fetterman singled out Avila Chevalier as an example of the party’s shift. “Chevalier described America as a f**king disgrace. She posted f*** Kamala Harris’ and posted that she forgot napkins and wiped her hands on the American flag. She wants to abolish the border, abolish prisons. That is a deeply disturbed individual,” Fetterman said.
He also grouped Chevalier with Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner, referring to them as “P-Hustle and Chevalier: the dirtbag left’s new power couple.” Platner has faced scrutiny over past Reddit posts under the username P-Hustle.
Elsewhere the New York Post interview, Fetterman addressed speculation about his party affiliation. “Even if I changed my party, my votes or views wouldn’t change,” he said, while referencing a May 2026 Washington Post column in which he described himself as an independent voice within the party. “I address this very directly. That’s the truth.”
