Tipsheet

NY Congressional Candidate Pushed COVID Theory Pushed by China, and She Just Might Win the Primary

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  June 09, 2026 8:00 AM

Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic Socialist running for New York's 13th Congressional District against incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, is not only a radical Leftist backed by Zohran Mamdani, but a peddler of a COVID theory pushed by the ChiComs that claimed COVID originated in France.

Here's more:

A far-left congressional candidate backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani peddled a crackpot COVID-19 theory that said the virus originated in France — and quoted a Chinese Communist propaganda organ as evidence.

Candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier spewed the bizarre claim in an unearthed tweet from 2020, citing as her source the Qiao Collective, a known propaganda organ for China.

“So you mean that once again it was PoC who intervened and stopped the spread of a European plague? Wow. Shocked,” Avila Chevalier said in a May 10, 2020, tweet, apparently referring to “people of color.”

Qiao said earlier that day that “Hospitals in France confirmed that France had COVID-19 outbreaks in November, a month before China.”

Because China would never lie.

While there's scant polling on the race, The New York Times is reporting that Rep. Espaillat's internal polling shows a tightening primary race. So it's possible Chevalier could win the primary and possibly be seated in Congress. She's backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, of course.

The worst part is all the socialism and the pending collapse of New York City, but this is a close second.

You cannot.

They don't care about vetting anymore, it seems. Just look at Graham Platner.

All they care about is a reliable Democratic vote.

Despite being endorsed by Mamdani, other Democrats are pushing Espaillat, including Hakeem Jeffries, who reportedly called Manhattan leader, Keith L.T. Wright, who lost the Congressional race to Espaillat in 2016, to bury that hatchet and keep Espaillat in Congress.