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Former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., avoided answering questions about the growing influence of the socialist movement after three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won the primary.
Mamdani's political strength was seen on Tuesday night after all three candidates for the House of Representatives – Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez – won their Democratic primaries in New York, defeating moderate Democrats.
Pelosi, herself a moderate Democrat, declined to answer Fox News Digital's question about her reaction to the socialist candidates emerging as winners.
BIG SOCIAL STARS IN THE FOLLOW-UP TO CONGRESS: WHO ARE DARIALIZA AVILA CHEVALIER, BRAD LANDER AND CLAIRE VALDEZ?
Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during a ceremony to honor the Capitol Police at the US Capitol on March 25, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
The 20-year-old California women's congress did not officially endorse Mamdani, but approved a candidate for 2024 – Dean Preston for California District 5.
He also said he would “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 opinion, that's their opinion,” Pelosi said in the interview. “That is not the view of the Democratic Party.”
Omar, a member of the Progressive Party, also shrugged off questions about the New York primary results, including whether the three Socialist candidates would be able to combine the agendas of House Democrats and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries if elected to Congress.
HAKEEM JEFFRIES CONFUSES THE QUESTION OF MAMDANI IS THE FUTURE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Attorney Ilhan Omar speaks at the Carmel Mall in Minneapolis on Jan. 28, 2026. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Although Omar has never been officially identified as a socialist, he has supported many socialist policies and has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
When Pelosi and Omar left without answering, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., welcomed the incoming lawmakers.
“I think New York Democrats have elected three new Democrats to join our caucus, and I look forward to them participating,” Johnson told Fox News Digital.
When asked about the criticism of the three candidates for Israel, Johnson said that they are against the Israeli government instead of Israel itself.
“They were not anti-Israel. They were an anti-Israel government,” Johnson said. “Benjamin Netanyahu's government has done great harm to the nation of Israel and its people.”
Lander is Jewish himself and said in his victory speech, “You can criticize Israel and not be antisemitic. You can be anti-Zionist and not be antisemitic.”
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST PARTY SUPPORTS MAMDANI CRIES FOR GAZA CEASEFIRE, CALLS FOR FURTHER RESISTANCE AGAINST ISRAEL
Democratic candidate Brad Lander speaks at a campaign rally in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on June 22, 2026. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The three winners were all critical of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, making the issue a focal point for the Democratic Party's progressive wing.
Johnson then called out the relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump and criticized both of their involvement in the initial war with Iran.
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“The people there will have an opportunity to correct the mistake they made,” said Johnson. “In the same way that the American people have the opportunity to correct this mistake we made by electing Donald Trump, who unfortunately was deceived by the war by Benjamin Netanyahu.”
He continued, “People don't like this war, and they don't like the policy of the Israeli government that got us into this war.”
