President Donald Trump tore into New York Democratic congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier on Friday over past social media posts in which she referred to law enforcement officers as “pigs” and supported abolishing policing, asking a crowd of officers, “Who the hell is she?”
Chevalier, who received backing from the Democratic Socialists of America, won New York’s Democratic primary in June, defeating incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. She has also received the endorsement of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Before the June primary, CNN’s KFile reported that Chevalier had deleted several controversial social media posts.
Among them was a 2021 repost declaring, “ALL PIGS EVERYWHERE ARE HARAM.” The report noted that “haram” is an Arabic term referring to something that is forbidden.
In another post from 2020, Chevalier responded to another social media user by describing “abolishing” the police as “ending policing full stop.”
Trump seized on those comments Friday while appearing alongside Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel before a crowd of law enforcement officials on Long Island.
The president was also there to boost New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.
During his remarks, Trump attacked Democratic socialists, describing them as “communist[s]” who support policies including “abolishing the police, abolishing prisons, abolishing qualified immunity, abolishing all immigration enforcement, and giving amnesty to 50 million illegal aliens.”
Trump then turned directly to Chevalier.
“One of Mayor Mamdani’s closest allies in New York, Darializa Avila — have you — I’ve never heard of her,” Trump said. “Who the hell is she?”
The question prompted boos from members of the crowd.
Trump continued by highlighting Chevalier’s previous remarks about police officers.
“She called police pigs,” Trump said before imitating the comments. “‘They’re pigs.’ She said, ‘They’re pigs!’”
The president also focused on Chevalier’s previous statement about ending policing.
“She said that, uh, ‘End policing full stop,’” Trump told the crowd. “That was her — that’s her campaign. That’s what she says — ‘End policing full stop.’”
Trump’s criticism of New York Democrats did not stop with Chevalier.
The president also took aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., whom Trump called “full-fledged Palestinian,” as well as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whom he described as “crazy.”
Trump then turned his attention to Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The president criticized Hochul’s performance leading the state, telling the Long Island audience that the governor has “done such a poor job” in New York.
Trump delivered the attacks while appearing before law enforcement officials and campaigning on behalf of Blakeman, with Chevalier’s previous anti-police social media posts becoming a central target of his remarks.
