The Democrats’ wave of the future lapped the shore again yesterday in New York’s congressional primaries. It’s the Mamdani wave — a wave carrying a combination of socialism and rank anti-Semitism. In other words, it’s a wave of the future that harks back to the past. It portends nothing good. Politico highlights the socialist component of the wave.
According to results posted here by the New York Times, Mamdani-endorsed candidates defeated Democratic incumbents in New York’s 10th and 13th congressional districts. In the 10th, Brad Lander smothered Dan Goldman. In the 13th, Darializa Avila Chevalier edged Adriano Espaillat.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Jon Levine notes that Avila Chevalier in particular had been dogged by a series of controversies regarding her extreme left-wing views, including statements in which she expressed support for abolishing schools, criticized interracial relationships, and said she used the American flag as a wash rag. If those views were a liability, she must have compensated for them with her status as a “pro-Palestinian activist.” Or perhaps her view of the American flag helped put her over the top.
In the 7th’s open seat, Claire Valdez, “a democratic socialist assemblywoman and close ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani,” crushed Antonio Reynoso. Valdez had won an early endorsement from Mamdani. The New York Times adds that the district is nicknamed the “Commie Corridor.” It’s a poignant detail that we should borrow for Minnesota’s 5th district. The Democratic Socialists of America supported both Valdez and Avila Chevalier.
Levine squinted hard at the results to find a few bright spots among “more moderate Democrats.” Levine points to New York’s 12th district, where Assemblyman Micah Lasher beat defeated lazy Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg, and New York’s 15th district, where incumbent Ritchie Torres, a supporter of Israel, crushed former mayoral candidate Michael Blake. Mamdani stayed out of that that race.
“Moderation” — as in “more moderate Democrats,” the term Levine invokes — is a word that may apply to the two races he highlights, but it’s all relative. In an editorial yesterday the New York Post called out Mamdani for his anti-Semitism. The Post alluded to Spinal Tap withe the proposition that “Mamdani takes the Jew-hate all the way to 11.”
The case of Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, deserves a closer look. An ardent opponent of the Trump administration, he has also vowed to keep his fellow 1 percenters in check. However, he was deemed lacking in his opposition to Israel. Mamdani struck back with his endorsement of Lander.
Following a visit to Poetica Coffee Shop in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the shop taunted Goldman on Instagram. “We see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee” was the caption under a photo of Goldman looking at his phone in front of the shop’s cash register. “Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference?”
The post continued, “We don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers or anyone in between. Too bad we didn’t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away.” That’s the Mamdani spirit.
The New York Times surmised that the image appeared to have been taken from a surveillance camera. Someone at Poetica put a lot of work into that unpoetic post. It was subsequently removed, but it leaves a bitter aftertaste.
