A Democratic congressional candidate in New York is refusing to walk back her pledge to battle “fascism” and “empire” from inside Congress, escalating a public feud with Republicans that erupted over a holiday post celebrating her heritage.
Claire Valdez, who is running in a deep-blue New York City district on a democratic socialist platform, responded Monday to criticism from House Republicans with a defiant social media message, according to The Daily Wire. The firestorm began after she marked Mexican Independence Day with a post about her background, which she said prompted accusations of being “un-American.”
“On Mexican Independence Day, I posted about my heritage with pride, and the right lost its mind. Republicans called me un-American,” Valdez wrote in the lengthy post. “So I’ll say it again: I will fight empire, and the fascists and war profiteers who serve it, whether they attack working people inside our borders or outside them.”
The candidate, who won her Democratic primary with the backing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, did not limit her commitments to domestic policy. She said she would “fight for a free Palestine” and “abolish ICE” upon taking office.
In her statement Monday, Valdez invoked Puerto Rico, describing the U.S. territory as a colony and signaling solidarity with its residents. “Mexican Independence Day marks a people’s fight to free themselves. That struggle isn’t finished. The United States still holds a colony of its own,” she wrote. “I’ll be meeting with Puerto Ricans fighting for basic dignity and the right to decide their own future. And I will commit to fighting alongside them — and with working people all over the world who are standing up for what we deserve. Solidarity forever. Free Palestine. F*ck ICE.”
The controversy traces back to last week, when Valdez celebrated Mexico’s Independence Day and shared a photograph of herself meeting with “comrades” from Morena, a left-wing political party in Mexico.
“215 years ago, Mexicans fought an empire that demanded our land and our labor. And we won. I’ll carry that fight with me to Congress as New York’s first Mexican American representative,” she said in that post, adding that she draws strength “not just by Mexico’s history but its present.”
House Republicans seized on the message, accusing Valdez of losing sight of which country she seeks to represent. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) delivered a pointed rejoinder: “Not sure if you’re aware of this, but you will be representing the United States of America in Congress and not Mexico,” he said.
The exchange has thrust Valdez’s candidacy — and her unapologetic progressive platform — into a broader national argument about patriotism, identity, and the boundaries of acceptable dissent inside the Democratic coalition. Republicans have increasingly trained their fire on democratic socialists running in safe blue districts, casting them as out of touch with mainstream voters, while the candidates themselves argue they are channeling genuine grassroots energy.
Valdez’s agenda includes “universal rent control” and “queer and trans liberation,” according to her campaign platform — positions that place her firmly in the party’s left flank and that are unlikely to face significant electoral resistance in her heavily Democratic district. The primary win, with Mamdani’s endorsement, offered a snapshot of how influential the democratic socialist lane has become in New York City politics. Mamdani’s own rise has been a frequent reference point for both allies and critics of the movement, and his backing of Valdez underscored the consolidation of that faction’s support in the city’s deep-blue precincts.
Her latest post also echoed themes she struck over the Fourth of July, when she attacked billionaires and called for Puerto Rico’s liberation — a contrast that critics have highlighted to argue she is more laudatory of Mexico’s independence than America’s. Valdez has not apologized for either set of remarks, instead framing the backlash as proof that her message is landing.
The dispute also reflects a widening foreign-policy rift inside the Democratic Party. Support for a “free Palestine” and calls to abolish ICE have moved from the fringes of progressive activism into the stump speeches of candidates in safely Democratic seats. For the party establishment, such positions can create painful general-election optics in swing districts even when the candidates themselves face little risk. For the left, they are non-negotiable markers of authenticity.
Valdez’s reference to Puerto Rico as a colony is not a novel position among progressive Democrats; the island’s territorial status and its residents’ lack of full voting representation in Congress have been the subject of long-running debates, including competing statehood and independence proposals. Her decision to fold that argument into a broader anti-empire message, however, gave Republicans an opening to frame her as hostile to American institutions.
The GOP’s rapid response — moving from a single holiday post to a national talking point within days — suggests Republicans see Valdez as a useful foil, a candidate whose language can be used to paint the broader Democratic Party as radical. Whether that strategy resonates beyond the usual partisan channels will depend on how the race unfolds in the coming months, and on whether Valdez’s district rewards her combative posture or eventually tires of the spotlight.
For now, the candidate appears content to keep the fight going. “I’ll say it again,” she wrote — a line that, for both her supporters and her critics, serves as a summary of her approach to the job she is asking voters to give her.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-candidate-doubles-down-on-pledge-to-fight-fascism-in-congress