Darializa Avila Chevalier, a progressive congressional candidate in New York's 13th district, abruptly ended a radio interview on Tuesday after being confronted about past social media posts. The exchange occurred at the Spanish-language radio station La Mega, during the program El Vacilón de la Mañana.
Host Excarlet Molina questioned Avila Chevalier about a 2022 post where she described the Dominican flag as a symbol of "fucking nationalism." Molina, identifying as Dominican, stated the post was offensive. Avila Chevalier, the daughter of Dominican immigrants, had deleted the post, which explained her refusal to display the flag in her Twitter bio at the time.
The interviewers also brought up a 2021 tweet in which Avila Chevalier posted "[F**k] Kamala Harris" in response to a statement by the then-Vice President. Avila Chevalier had previously apologized for this tweet to Kamala Harris.
As the discussion grew tense and hosts spoke over each other, Avila Chevalier stated her desire to focus solely on the "issues" facing residents of New York's 13th district. She ultimately removed her headphones and left the studio, stating, "I am not going to sit here and be yelled at by various people."
The incident took place hours before Avila Chevalier secured a significant victory in her district's Democratic primary, unseating incumbent Adriano Espaillat. She is among several leftist candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and identifies as a democratic socialist. Her platform includes support for defunding the police, seizing property from landlords, abolishing ICE, and opposing all deportations. Past social media activity, now scrubbed, reportedly included labeling then-President Joe Biden a "rapist" and asserting that "Israel doesn't exist." Another post from 2019 described white women in interracial relationships as "ugly colonizers."