What Mamdani-backed candidates say to Trump, Republican communism claim
President Donald Trump has referred to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani time and time again as a "communist."
Now, he's passing that on to three of the mayor's endorsement candidates who swept their congressional primaries earlier this week.
Here's what he said, and how the candidates responded to the communism title.
President Trump slams Mamdani, socialists after DSA members sweep NY primaries
On Tuesday night, three Mamdani-backed candidates, two of whom are DSA members, snagged big victories in congressional primaries for the state. Darializa Avila Chevalier, alongside Claire Valdez and Brad Lander, all defeated establishment Democrats.
Trump, who has called Mamdani a communist multiple times before, first wrote on Truth Social around 2:30 a.m. after the sweep, "America the Beautiful will NEVER be a Communist Country!!!"
The next morning, the president posted about the mayor and the candidates directly, writing "Mayor Mamdani pulled through 3 solid Communists, and has received loud and universal applause from the Fake News Media."
During a press conference on Wednesday, Trump was also asked about the candidates.
"They're going radical left," Trump said in the Oval Office. "I watched that woman last night. That's not a socialist. I know socialists. That woman is a communist." It wasn't immediately clear to which candidate Trump was referencing.
He then said that if a democratic socialist were to be a presidential nominee, it could make it easier for Republicans.
"If you look throughout history, go back thousands of years, you've always had socialism and communism by different names," the president said. "It's never ever worked."
He's not the only big-name Republican to refer to their politics as communism. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that now "is a very serious time," and "every American needs to wake up and understand the threat."
"The Marxists have nominated some of the most radical candidates to ever run for office, and they're running for Congress," he said. "The insurgent left is on the rise."
What is a democratic socialist?
The mayor, alongside two of the candidates, identify as democratic socialists, which is described as "a system where ordinary people have a real voice in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and society" by DSA, or Democratic Socialists of America.
"We want a democracy powered by everyday people.," the group says on their website.
"The capitalist class tells us we are powerless, but together we can take back control."
What have the candidates said about being called communists?
Valdez was asked on CNN how she felt about the communist title after her big win on Tuesday; she clarified: "I'm a proud democratic socialist."
She was then pushed on even Democrats speaking out against socialism, including the likes of Sen. John Fetterman.
"It's a big-tent party. … What's important for me right now is saying that we won with a mandate in this race. We won across the entire district," Valdez said on air.
Lander's team did not immediately respond to a request for comment by USA TODAY.
Avila Chevalier was also pressed on the communist question during one of her first interviews after the primary win.
"That framing is one that I've been very proud to be able to say I don't respond to. One in which I have been very intentional to say, I won't be reactive," she said on MS NOW.
"We are presenting a vision of what we're fighting for, and I think for far too long we have had politics that is reactive to what Republicans are doing. What we need is Democrats who are actually going to present a positive vision, one that sets the tone for what we should be talking about, which is the issue of affordability."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Mamdani-backed candidates say to Trump, Republican communism claim
Reporting by Amethyst Martinez, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY
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This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 12:47 PM.