Controversial Posts Test Mamdani Endorsement

A speaker at a podium passionately addressing a crowd, wearing rainbow socks

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing a congressional candidate who called America a “f***ing disgrace,” deleted radical social media posts, and attended a pro-Palestinian rally on the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre — yet insists she has simply “grown.”

Story Snapshot

Darializa Avila Chevalier deleted a Twitter account containing posts calling for abolishing police, open borders, and seizing landlord property.
Her campaign says she has “grown considerably” — but she has not directly addressed or explained any of the specific posts.
Mamdani endorsed her anyway, praising her activism helping people avoid Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.
Avila Chevalier attended a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8, 2023 — the day after Hamas slaughtered over 1,200 Israelis — a rally that Mamdani himself condemned.

Radical Posts Surface, Then Disappear

CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski uncovered a now-deleted Twitter account belonging to Avila Chevalier containing posts from 2018 to 2022. ^[11] In those posts, she wrote there should be “no more police at all, ever,” described “a world without borders” as “the only moral way forward,” and called for confiscating landlord property and nationalizing the pharmaceutical industry. The account was deleted before her congressional run gained public attention.

Avila Chevalier is running in New York’s 7th Congressional District, challenging incumbent Democratic Representative Adriano Espaillat. ^[11] She is a democratic socialist and former grassroots organizer who worked against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. ^[12] Mamdani praised her for “securing releases from ICE custody” and “fighting for affordability” when he announced his endorsement. His campaign has raised $8 million from over 20,000 individual donors, giving his endorsements real political weight.

The “She’s Changed” Defense Falls Flat

When the deleted posts surfaced, Avila Chevalier’s campaign spokesperson Zena Alisha told reporters that the candidate has “grown considerably” since those posts and is now focused on community issues. That is the entire defense. No statement from Avila Chevalier herself. No point-by-point explanation. No specific policy she has reversed. The campaign offered a vague, one-line dismissal of posts that called for abolishing police and erasing the nation’s borders.

Mamdani doubled down on the endorsement after the posts went public, telling reporters her views have “evolved.” ^[13] But his own credibility on bold promises is shaky. He admitted his signature campaign pledge — free buses for all New Yorkers — is not funded and will not happen under his current budget. ^[1] A mayor who oversold his own platform is now asking voters to trust that a candidate’s extreme past views simply vanished.

October 7 Rally Raises Deeper Questions

The story gets worse. Avila Chevalier attended a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8, 2023 — the day after Hamas carried out the deadliest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Mamdani himself condemned that rally. Yet he still endorsed her for Congress. All candidates in her primary race have publicly stated that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians. Mamdani endorsed a candidate for a U.S. House seat who was present at a rally he found objectionable enough to condemn.

NEW: Darializa Avila Chevalier, a candidate for Congress in New York City, has defended participating in an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas rally on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas onslaught in Israel, an event that saw participants celebrate the high number of Israeli fatalities… pic.twitter.com/lST352zYT5

— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) June 6, 2026

One Instagram post described Avila Chevalier as a candidate who “called America an imperialist nation” and whose reaction to the October 7 massacre was “celebrating the murder.” ^[14] Her campaign has not denied those characterizations on the record. She calls instead for the country to “invest in our communities, not in bombs abroad.” ^[10] For voters who believe America is worth defending — and that October 7 was a barbaric atrocity — this is not a candidate who has changed. This is a candidate who deleted her posts.

What This Means for New York and the Country

The New York Times has warned that if Avila Chevalier wins, democratic socialists will gain a foothold in the U.S. House of Representatives. ^[4] That is not a small thing. A vote to abolish police, erase borders, and seize private property does not disappear because an old Twitter account does. Voters deserve a direct, on-the-record accounting from Avila Chevalier — not a spokesperson’s talking point about “growth” — before sending her to Congress.

Mamdani’s endorsement is a window into where the far left wants to take New York and the country. He backs a candidate with a documented record of radical, anti-American rhetoric, offers no real evidence she has changed, and asks the public to simply trust him. New Yorkers — and the rest of the country watching — should take the deleted posts seriously. Deleting a record is not the same as changing your mind.