James Carville says NY primary winner should not join Democratic caucus

Democratic socialist candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier has won a shocking primary victory in New York, but veteran Democratic strategist James Carville isn’t celebrating.

The socialist backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who won the primary election in New York’s 13th Congressional District on Tuesday night, has made a career of “community organizing” and has a history of controversy, including founding a group at the university that called for the “total destruction of Western civilization.”

NewsNation He interviewed Carville on Thursday for his response to multiple far-left candidates winning in New York. Although he attributed some of the panic to about three seats in New York, Avila still argued that Chevalier should not be associated with the Democratic Party.

“I don’t think two of them are even Democrats. This Chevalier lady, I don’t think – they shouldn’t seat her in the caucus. Her views are completely contrary to everything any Democrat has. We believe in pluralism, she doesn’t believe in interracial dating,” he said. “I don’t think there’s room in the party. By the way, I’m not sure he wants to be a Democrat. Go do something else! Start your own party!”

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NewsNation host Elizabeth Vargas said Avila Chevalier called for abolishing ICE and the police, halting all deportations, naming veterans as war criminals, and various other issues, and asked “Who is this person?” He noted that he asked.

“He’s not a Democrat, okay?” Carville said. “It’s pretty clear, and frankly I think a lot of Democrats feel the same way I do. I don’t have any power, I’m just an old, burned-out consultant, but I wouldn’t put him in the seat! That’s not who we are! And we have to say, look, you’re duly elected, you get your seat in Congress, but you won’t get any committee assignments once the Democrats have the majority.”

Another commenter observed that many politicians who hate Democrats still run for office as part of their party.

“Why do you want to run as a Democrat?” he replied. “Start your own movement! If it’s this powerful, far-reaching movement that’s gaining more momentum everywhere, then go ahead, be at the head of it, don’t use the Democratic Party to push it forward. We have nothing to do with it.”

Vargas noted that anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment are increasing within the Democratic Party and asked Carville if he agreed with Representative Dan Goldman that this development poses a danger to democracy itself.

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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory in 2025 was already a big surprise for New Yorkers, and it was followed less than a year later by the first victory of three candidates he supported. (Angelina Katsanis/AP)

“It’s gross, okay? And you have to be careful not to combine the two things,” he warned. “You may be largely ‘opposed’ to the policies of the Israeli government, which is how I describe myself, but when you say ‘I don’t think Israel should exist,’ I have no room for you.”

“I have all the room in the world to criticize Israeli policies, to criticize the settlements – which I think were stupid and ignorant to begin with, and they continue to be so. You can criticize whether they responded strategically to October 7th. That’s OK. That’s OK,” he said.

He said that where he draws the line is when an individual is against the concept of Israel’s existence or when the Jewish people as a group are against themselves.

He said of such people, “You have no place at my table, I can say that.” “But I think the smart political move is not to seat these people.”

When asked whether many left-wing figures are representative of the modern Democratic Party, Carville again argued that although they have the right to speak their minds, they should not identify as Democrats.

“Do not mention the name of the Democratic Party when you do this, because in the end you are really hurting the United States,” he said.

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Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville said that while he is critical of the Israeli government, he has nothing to do with people who oppose Israel’s existence or dislike the Jewish people as a group. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SCAD)

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Vargas juxtaposed Carville by talking about the more established Democratic agenda as opposed to sentiments on the far left of “abolishing everything and ‘liberating Palestine.’”

Carville called people who espouse these ideals “crazy.” “I don’t have time for these people.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Avila Chevalier’s office but did not immediately receive a response.