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Former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., dodged answering questions on the growing influence of the socialist movement after three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani dominated in primary elections.
Mamdani’s political clout was on display Tuesday night after all three House candidates he endorsed — Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez — won their Democratic primaries in New York, beating out more moderate Democrats.
Pelosi, a moderate Democrat herself, refused to answer Digital’s question on her reaction to these socialist candidates coming out as victorious.
RISING SOCIALIST STARS ON TRACK TO CONGRESS: WHO ARE DARIALIZA AVILA CHEVALIER, BRAD LANDER AND CLAIRE VALDEZ?
Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during a ceremony honoring Capitol Police officers at the U.S. Capitol on March 25, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
The 20-term California congresswoman never formally endorsed Mamdani, but she did endorse a socialist candidate in 2024 — Dean Preston for California’s District 5 supervisor.
She also said that she will “reject socialism as an economic system” and as a full picture of the Democratic Party in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes back in 2019.
“If people have that view, that’s their view,” Pelosi said in the interview. “That is not the view of the Democratic Party.”
Omar, a member of the progressive Squad, also ignored questions about the New York primary results, including whether the three socialist candidates could complicate House Democrats and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ agendas if they’re elected to Congress.
HAKEEM JEFFRIES DODGES QUESTION ON WHETHER MAMDANI IS FUTURE OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Rep. Ilhan Omar speaks at Karmel Mall in Minneapolis on Jan. 28, 2026. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
While Omar has never formally identified as a socialist, she has supported many policies associated with socialism and has also been backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
While Pelosi and Omar walked away without responding, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., welcomed the incoming lawmakers.
“I think Democrats in New York elected three new Democrats that will join our caucus, and I’m looking forward for them participating,” Johnson told Digital.
Asked about criticism that the three candidates have leveled against Israel, Johnson argued they oppose the Israeli government rather than Israel itself.
“They were not anti-Israel. They were anti-Israeli government,” Johnson said. “The government of Benjamin Netanyahu has done a grave disservice to the nation of Israel and to its people.”
Lander is Jewish himself and said in his victory speech, “You can criticize Israel and not be antisemitic. You can be an anti-Zionist and not be antisemitic.”
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST GROUP BACKING MAMDANI CONDEMNS GAZA CEASEFIRE, CALLS FOR MORE ANTI-ISRAEL RESISTANCE
Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander speaks at an election eve rally in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on June 22, 2026. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The three primary winners have all been critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, making the issue a defining point of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing.
Johnson then called out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relationship with President Donald Trump and condemned both of their involvement in starting the war with Iran.
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“The people there will have an opportunity to correct the mistake that they made,” Johnson said. “The same way that the people of America have the opportunity to correct this mistake that we made in electing Donald Trump, who unfortunately got manipulated into war by Benjamin Netanyahu.”
He continued, “People don’t like this war, and they don’t like Israeli government policy that put us into this war.”
