Republicans reacted to Tuesday night’s New York primary results by warning that the Democratic Party has become “the party of socialism” and has been “taken over by those who hate America” after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani-backed democratic socialist candidates swept key races.
The victories marked the greatest test yet of Mamdani’s growing political clout since his upset victory in last year’s New York City mayoral race, with all three of his endorsed House candidates prevailing, including challengers who defeated incumbent Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), delivering a major setback to New York’s Democrat establishment.
Republican leaders and Trump administration officials quickly seized on the results, portraying them as evidence that the Democratic Party is moving sharply leftward and arguing that the developments in New York could have implications for the party’s future well beyond the state.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wrote that “Marxists, socialists, and the insurgent far-left have taken over the Democrat Party” and warned that “Mini-Mamdani candidates” were emerging around the country. In a separate post, Johnson said there were “MINI MAMDANIs popping up all around the country” and urged Americans to “take this seriously.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) similarly argued that the results made it “official” that the Democratic Party had become “the PARTY OF SOCIALISM.”
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) lamented that “Gotham has fallen” and warned that a “sweep of Marxist Socialist candidates” would accelerate what she called a “Blue Exodus” from New York.
The White House also weighed in on the results. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared President Donald Trump’s declaration that America “will never be a Communist country.” Trump separately wrote that Mamdani had “pulled through 3 solid Communists” while contrasting the New York results with his own endorsed primary victories.
Several Republican senators framed the results as evidence of a broader ideological shift. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote that the Democratic Party had been “taken over by those who hate America.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) argued that socialism was “no longer the exception” in today’s Democratic Party and said the New York results demonstrated the party’s direction.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) predicted that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would emerge as leading national figures within the Democratic Party and speculated that Mamdani could one day challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) argued that the Democratic Party had become the party of “radical antisemitism and outright communism.”
Florida Republicans also reacted strongly to the results. Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) said the developments “should scare all freedom-loving Americans” and separately contrasted democratic socialists’ policy agenda with what she described as Florida’s emphasis on “freedom, opportunity, and prosperity.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) described the New York Democratic Party as “a cauldron of third world pathologies,” while Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said that “for those who want to escape socialism and want low taxes and freedom, Florida is the best place” and argued that the results should not surprise anyone because today’s Democratic Party is “all in on antisemitism.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) argued that the democratic socialists’ success was “bad for the Dems” and could aid Republicans politically, but added that, in the long run, it was also “bad for America.”
Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) said the “Statue of Liberty … weeps” as New York falls under what he called a “Red-Green Alliance of Marxists and Islamists,” while Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) described New York’s political trajectory as “tragic” and attributed it to years of immigration and progressive governance.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) wrote that what happened in New York “should scare every American” and argued that the state’s Democratic Party no longer seeks to make America prosper.
Even Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) joined the criticism, questioning why he was “the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate” unwilling to defend what he described as “self-identified communists.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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