Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville delivered a blunt assessment after democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier scored an upset victory in New York’s 13th Congressional District Democratic primary, arguing that she should not be welcomed into the House Democratic caucus if elected to Congress.
Avila Chevalier, who was backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, built her public profile through community organizing and has faced scrutiny over past controversies, including reports that she helped found a college group that advocated for the “total eradication of Western civilization.”
Appearing on NewsNation with host Elizabeth Vargas, Carville acknowledged that some reactions to New York’s recent primary results were exaggerated, describing the outcome as involving only a handful of congressional seats. Even so, he insisted that Avila Chevalier’s political positions place her outside the Democratic Party’s core beliefs.
“Two of ’em I don’t think are even Democrats,” Carville said. “This Chevalier lady, I don’t—they should not seat her in the caucus. Her views are totally against anything that any Democrats have. We believe in pluralism, she doesn’t believe in interracial dating.”
Carville added that he was not convinced Avila Chevalier even wanted to be identified as a Democrat.
“I don’t think there’s a place in the party,” he said. “I’m not, by the way, I’m not sure she wants to be a Democrat. Go do something else! Form your own party!”
Vargas then outlined several of Avila Chevalier’s positions, including calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, eliminate police departments, halt all deportations, and remarks criticizing military veterans. She asked Carville directly who the candidate represented.
“She is not a Democrat, okay?” Carville responded. “That is pretty clear, and frankly, I think a lot of Democrats feel like I do. I don’t have any power, just an old washed-up consultant, but I wouldn’t seat her! This is not who we are!”
He went further, suggesting that even if she won election to Congress, Democratic leadership should keep her outside the caucus.
“We should just say, look, you’re duly elected, have your seat in Congress, but you would not be getting any committee assignments when the Democrats got the majority.”
Carville also questioned why politicians with views he considers fundamentally different from the Democratic Party continue to run under its banner.
“Why do you want to run as a Democrat?” he asked. “Start your own movement! If it’s such a powerful, sweeping movement that’s got more momentum everywhere, then go ahead, be at the head of it, don’t use the Democratic Party to advance it. We don’t have any interest in it.”
The conversation later shifted to tensions within the Democratic Party over Israel and antisemitism. Vargas referenced growing concerns from some lawmakers, including Rep. Dan Goldman, who has warned that rising anti-Israel rhetoric could become a serious political and social problem.
Carville drew a distinction between criticizing the Israeli government and opposing Israel’s existence.
“It’s disgusting, OK? And you’ve got to be careful not to conflate two things,” he said.
He explained that he believes there is ample room for criticism of Israeli government policies, including settlement expansion and strategic decisions following the October 7 attacks.
“You can be hugely ‘anti-‘ the policies of the government of Israel,” Carville said. “You can criticize the settlements… You can criticize whether they reacted strategically to October the 7. That’s all fine.”
However, he said the line is crossed when someone rejects Israel’s right to exist or expresses hostility toward Jewish people as a whole.
“When you say ‘I don’t think Israel should exist,’ then I don’t have room for ya,” he said. “You’ve got no place at my table.”
Returning to the broader political divide, Carville argued that people with those views are free to advocate for their positions but should not do so while claiming to represent the Democratic Party.
“Just don’t invoke the name of the Democratic Party in doing that, because you’re really hurting the United States in the end,” he said.
As Vargas contrasted establishment Democratic positions with slogans such as “abolish everything” and “free Palestine,” Carville dismissed those ideas in unmistakable terms.
“Insane,” he concluded. “I’ve got no time for these people.”
