Darializa Avila Chevalier, the self-described democratic socialist who won her Democratic primary in New York just weeks ago, defeating an establishment Democrat and practically securing her place in Congress, was praised for her views on interracial marriage by David Duke, the former KKK Grand Wizard.
In a now-deleted post on X from September 2019, Chevalier criticized black and Arab men for "fetishizing colonizer women."
"Well, I think that people have the right to preserve their particular heritage," Duke said when asked about her social media post. "And if she's concerned about preserving her heritage if it's Somali, or whatever she is, she's certainly got the right to do that."
And according to Mark Halperin, quoting a “Democratic Party stalwart,” some Democrats internally are worried that Chevalier will emerge as a Democratic version of Duke, who caused an uproar when he effectively became the Republican gubernatorial nominee in Louisiana in 1991.
I talked to quite a few moderate Democrats who are very concerned about the rise of socialism and out-there views in the party.
— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) June 29, 2026
Here’s the spiciest quote: https://t.co/FgqmgEQz0u pic.twitter.com/7eQu9WkuV1
Duke also had mostly good things to say about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, citing his opposition to the Iran war, and blaming Jews for holding American foreign policy captive.
"I think that the new mayor of New York was a step forward," Duke said.
"I do believe that there are bigger fish to fry, and I do believe that the immigration policies we talk about were orchestrated by the same elite that has given us these wars."
"His views on Israel are critical, because there's no more important political issue than the fact that a tiny minority of America … the oligarchs of the Jewish people, that they are controlling our foreign policy."
This comes as Democrats have begun to double down on the extremist ranks within their party on both the economic and cultural fronts, culminating in the rise of the so-called “democratic socialist.” Not only do they hold typically socialist economic policies, desiring to “democratize” the means of production, “eat the rich,” and expand government power to implement more government programs, but they have also adopted anti-Semitic views about Israel originating from the country’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Socialist candidates and commentators have even expressed that they plan to go after candidates who support Israel.
The socialist alignment with a former KKK Grand Wizard should come as no surprise, as the only difference between a figure like Duke and Chevalier lies in their own framing: the latter believes her hatred is actually empathy and inclusion, whereas the former harbors no such illusions.