Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, argued that the victories of so-called democratic socialist candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reflected what he described as the growing influence of “Islamist leftist socialists” within the Democratic Party.
“The Zohran Mamdani socialist democrat Islamists swept three congressional elections, primary elections… in New York City on Tuesday,” Leahy said during Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, noting that several state legislative candidates also won.
The discussion followed Tuesday’s Democratic primaries, in which candidates backed by Mamdani – including Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier – won their respective races.
Leahy and guest Crom Carmichael discussed Avila Chevalier’s victory over longtime U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13), with Leahy describing her background.
“She converted to Islam three years ago,” Leahy said. “She upset the incumbent.”
Carmichael noted that Espaillat had been considered a reliably progressive lawmaker.
“He scored 99 percent voting correctly by the progressive organizations that rate you,” Carmichael said.
The hosts also discussed Brad Lander’s victory over U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY-10).
“Brad Lander, a full on socialist, defeated… Dan Goldman,” Leahy said. “Dan Goldman got stomped two to one.”
Carmichael attributed Goldman’s defeat to his support for Israel.
“The reason that Dan Goldman lost is that Dan Goldman stood up in some ways for Israel,” Carmichael said. “The person who beat him stood up for the terrorists.”
Leahy also criticized Avila Chevalier’s political background.
“Who never had a job in her life except being a community organizer… and PhD student and Columbia University graduate,” Leahy said. “She organized all of those protests, the pro-Palestinian protests.”
The conversation then shifted to what Leahy called the “three root causes” behind the electoral success of Mamdani-backed candidates.
Leahy identified New York City’s teachers unions as his first explanation.
“Number one: Teachers unions in New York City. They hate America,” Leahy said. “For decades they have been teaching that hatred in New York City public schools.”
He argued that those educational influences are now reflected in younger voters.
“Those under 40 who hate America, who love socialism over capitalism—it’s largely under 40, the majority for socialism,” Leahy said.
Carmichael responded that while he believed the trend was particularly visible in New York, “it is everywhere.”
Leahy’s second point centered on Muslim immigration and elected officials.
“Number two, the rise of Muslim immigration and political office held by Muslims,” Leahy said. “And here’s the bottom line. Islam is not just a religion. It is an anti-American political ideology.”
Carmichael argued that Islam functions as both a political and religious system.
“Islam… is much more about politics and economics than it is about religion,” Carmichael said.
Leahy continued by arguing that increasing political influence among Muslim communities has produced similar developments in Europe.
“They have taken over political power bit by bit,” Leahy said. “And when they take political power, what they do is they squelch the individual liberty of everybody else.”
He added, “My theory… is when a democratic republic reaches a 5 percent Muslim population, it’s the beginning of the end. Here in the United States, we’re at 1.5 percent, but in the United Kingdom they’re at 6 percent, they’re at 8 or 9 percent in France, and so that’s really what we’ve got going on. It has to do with the rise of Muslim immigration and political power.”
Leahy said the third factor was organizational rather than ideological.
“Number three… the left and the socialist Islamists, they have a robust get out the vote effort. They are very energized and very engaged,” he said.
He went on to argue that progressive activists have built an infrastructure conservatives have failed to match.
“If you are a social justice warrior, the only thing that you can do with your life and get paid for it is to be a community organizer… an activist,” Leahy said.
Carmichael added that much of that effort is “funded by many of the government employee unions.”
Leahy concluded by arguing that conservatives need to build a comparable voter mobilization operation.
“Now, we don’t have a counterpart of that on the right,” Leahy said. “And that is a failure of the right, and we need to fix that.”
The Mamdani-endorsed candidates who won NYC Democrat primaries on Tuesday are Leftist Socialist Islamists, one of whom, Chevalier, is a 7 year PhD student who recently converted to Islam. 📺 pic.twitter.com/ipf9lYYx8T
— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) June 25, 2026
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
