Daria-Riza Avila Chevalier, a far-left candidate for Congress in New York, has made some controversial statements on social media. She called for landlords to have their properties confiscated, proposed the elimination of police and prisons, and even claimed that Israel does not exist.
Chevalier is running against incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the upcoming primary for New York’s 13th District. Despite her polarizing comments, she received an endorsement from Mayor Zoran Mamdani. In the past, she has made aggressive remarks about various topics, referring to Joe Biden as a “rapist” and “war criminal” and criticizing the U.S. as a “terrible disgrace.” She has also made offensive comments about interracial relationships.
Recently, it came to light that the posts in question were made on X and were deleted between 2018 and 2022. CNN found these posts using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
One notable retweet from August 2020 featured a post about Israel, to which Chevalier responded, “Trick question — Israel doesn’t exist!”
In September 2021, during a campaign promoting pro-immigrant views, she stated that “a world without borders, like a world without prisons and police, is possible, necessary, and the only moral progress.”
When asked about her stance on borders and deportations, Chevalier was clear: “Yes, literally abolish borders. Deportations are all wrong.”
Even within leftist circles, Chevalier has faced criticism. She accused socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of endorsing “liberal Zionism” and took issue with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for voting “present” on military funding for Israel.
Some of her posts reflect pro-communist beliefs. At the outset of the pandemic, she advocated for nationalization of hospitals and utilities, even suggesting the suspension of rent and mortgage payments and the dissolution of insurance companies.
In 2019, she deleted a post that called for “taking control of the means of production” without further explanation.
Following George Floyd’s death in 2020, during a time of intense scrutiny of police practices, Chevalier responded to a user’s inquiry about the slogan “defund the police,” saying, “We are going to abolish the fund and abolish it.” A couple of days later, she affirmed that the movement aimed for complete police abolition, punctuating her statement with emojis.
Chevalier stated that she has matured since those earlier posts. In response to criticism, she accused Espaillat of trying to draw attention away from true issues facing voters in Manhattan and the Bronx. “My opponent wants to live in the past. He’s digging up social media posts from years ago, defending outdated politics,” she remarked.
She emphasized her current focus on the community and its future, asserting, “It’s been several years since those tweets, and I’ve grown quite a bit.”
Mamdani reiterated his support, stating that Chevalier would confront corporate greed and fight for working families in New York City, emphasizing the need for affordable living conditions.
