There is an ongoing Democrat civil war underway in New York City, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani attempts to install several fellow Democratic Socialists in Congress- going so far as to support the primary opponent of an incumbent in good standing and not mired in scandal of any kind. But the Elitist Media are outright omitting this from their midterm primary coverage.
Watch this panel exchange on ABC’s This Week, as aired on Sunday, June 21st, 2026:
DOWNPLAY: Watch this ABC panel on Mamdani's attempted DSA hijacking of the NYC congressional delegation, which makes no mention of his endorsement against a sitting incumbent.
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) June 21, 2026
JON KARL: All right, the roundtable is back. Uh. So Faiz, let me ask you about what we just heard… pic.twitter.com/zpGC8QOFCX
JON KARL: All right, the roundtable is back. Uh. So Faiz, let me ask you about what we just heard before the break. Uh, from Mayor Mamdani, uh, saying that basically the Democratic Party needs backbone. Is the Democratic Party heading in his direction? Democratic socialists of America? I mean, we saw another DSA candidate win the primary here in DC. They got to the run off in Los Angeles. Is that where the energy in the party is now?
FAIZ SHAKIR: Yeah. And populist left candidates Graham Platner, Abdullah el-Sayed, a bunch of people who are doing very well right now. And the reason- well, you have to ask why, why are they doing so well? And part of the reason, what Mayor Mamdani is saying is you have to have an agenda. So we're living in a period of scarcity. Donald Trump is saying $132 billion for Iran. That's great. We should spend that. Instead, we can't have Medicare for All. We can't have- we have to cut Medicaid. We can't have affordable child care in this country, got to cut food stamps, can't do anything about, um, decency of raising the minimum wage to a living wage. No, none of those things are possible, according to Trump. And according to most conservative, you know, center left and center right politicians- status quo-ism. And here you have a movement that is building support because saying, “here's an affirmative agenda of a vision that is improving the lives of working class people in this country.”
KARL: But, Donna, can that agenda win nationally?
DONNA BRAZILE: Look, the affordability agenda has many voices. And at a time when the Democratic Party is still searching its way out of the 2024 campaign, I feel like every week we're in the coroner's office reviewing another autopsy. It's not just about your spine and your brain and your heart. It's about making sure that you have an agenda that inspires the American people. Whether you live in Washington, D.C., Seattle, New York, that, yeah, they may be moving in that direction, but most Democrats are pragmatic. They're centrist. They're also bold in their solution. They understand that Progressives want a voice within the party. But I don't believe that this- this so-called energy is is going to carry us forward unless we can build coalitions and coalitions that can earn us the votes of the American people.
KARL: Chris?
CHRIS CHRISTIE: Um, look, this is fine. You know, in this post, uh, 2024 period, um, for the rise of folks like Mamdani, they have to show they can actually do the job. He's in the easy part right now. He gets to give speeches, he gets to wear a Knicks jersey. He gets to, you know, run a parade, which I was there, it was sketchy. Um, in terms of the way the city helped to run that.
KARL: He's off to a pretty good start, though, isn't he?
CHRISTIE: But Jon.
KARL: I mean, even…
CHRISTIE: He's off to a pretty good start. What does that mean? He has not yet accomplished any of what he talked about in his campaign..
KARL: Well,he’s been in office..
SHAKIR: Well, child care…
CHRISTIE: …how do we.. how do we...
SHAKIR: Child care expansion has occurred. Potholes are being fixed. Snow shoveling occurred.
CHRISTIE: Oh, really? You’ve driven in New York? Potholes have been fixed? I know. of course,
SHAKIR: I did. I did- just went there yesterday.
CHRISTIE: Of course you haven’t. And that's why, you know, you want to believe the rhetoric the Mamdani people put out they’re fixing things. He hasn't done anything yet. I'm not saying he can't. He has not. So to say he's off to a good start means he hasn't thrown up on his shoes. Well, congratulations. That's a great thing. And he can run a rally for a team that wins the NBA championship. Great job. What he's saying right now is all rhetoric and no accomplishment. And I think what Democrats have to show, especially if they get Congress back this fall, is that they can accomplish some things. And the Sanders wing of the party has never shown that they can accomplish anything. Big speeches, no accomplishments.
SHAKIR: There's a finger wag here going on of elites who say, “hey, look at these dumb people. Look at this. Mayor Mamdani not doing anything.” Look at the people of New York. What are they saying? His unpopularity has been increasing. Why? Just be curious about it. Why do regular working class new yorkers, some people who voted against him are saying, hey, I like this guy. What's he doing? He wakes up every day with a sense of integrity, of saying, I'm going to improve your life. I'm focused on you. Yeah, I could be worried about Ken Griffin. I could be worried about private equity. I could be worried about Michael Bloomberg. But I'm worried about you. And I'm going to try to work on things. And you, you and I know like you've had a tough job as Mayor or Governor of New Jersey. It is hard to be a person in charge. And yet, while he does it with integrity, a desire to improve working class people, he's focused on the underdogs. And it’s working for him.
In one particular race, Mamdani has endorsed a DSA organizer with a history of wild tweets who led anti-Israel protests at Columbia University as far back as October 8th, 2023- the day after the horrific Hamas attack against Israel. Per The New York Post:
Scandal-plagued far-left congressional hopeful Darializa Avila Chevalier attended an anti-Israeli rally in the Big Apple one day after Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, according to reports.
The 32-year-old radical with a twisted history of bashing Israel joined a hateful Times Square mob on Oct. 8, 2023, that torched the Israeli flag and flashed swastikas after hundreds of Jews were slaughtered by Islamic terrorists in a surprise attack on the Jewish state.
Chevalier, who is gunning for Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s seat in New York’s 13th House District, justified her attendance by declaring she is simply a lifelong advocate of Palestine.
Chevalier is so far left that she’s been critical of Bernie Sanders’ “liberal Zionism”, bragged about wiping her hand with the American flag, and tweeted “F- Kamala Harris.” But you haven’t heard a peep about her on national media.
This is in and of itself a raging double standard because the Elitist Media ALWAYS cover New York stories as national stories. This story is inconvenient, though.
By keeping the discussion non-specific, Jon Karl let the debate veer to whether New York City socialists can resonate nationally. There was no discussion about the fragility of Hakeem Jeffries’ coalition (as is often the case when discussing Republican primaries), and no mention of the insane dynamics of the primary in the 13th District (and the 7th, to a lesser extent).
In the interest of protecting Democrats nationally and Mamdani in New York, you just saw a 4-minute panel discussion talk about nothing. Just the way the Elitist Media loves it when it comes to inconvenient stories.
