“Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you. I’m sorry.” James Carville said that about Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who won a New York primary on Tuesday with the backing of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Carville, the veteran Democratic strategist, was talking on the “Politics War Room” podcast with co-host Al Hunt. He cited reporting from The New York Times and said Avila Chevalier had attacked interracial relationships and the American flag. He did not stop at one candidate. “I’m just not, and I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk ‘the S-word.’ ‘Schism.’ I really do.”
Fox News and Mediaite reported his remarks, and a second account said he told listeners such candidates should “start her own party.”
What he proposed
Carville said he was ready to bargain over a breakup. “Let’s negotiate a terms of a schism here,” he said. “Maybe we can part under some kind of advantageous terms for both of us, but I’m done.”
On Israel, he separated criticism from rejection. “I am totally comfortable in a political party that spends time questioning the policies of the government of Israel. In fact, I’m enthusiastic about that,” he said. “I don’t want to be in a political party that denies the right of the state of Israel to exist.”
He also suggested that many of the newer far-left candidates do not actually like the Democratic Party but run under its label anyway.
Hunt’s view
Hunt was blunter about the politics. “They are a great gift to Donald Trump,” he said, and he urged Obama and younger Democrats to step in and say, “This is not us.” He said a weak November showing would let “that group of crazies” undermine House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries at every turn.
The two agreed that Republicans are overplaying the three Mamdani-backed winners as a picture of the party’s future, though they still called for a firewall to keep them out. Hunt compared them unfavorably with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who he said made trouble at the start of her career and then became a good member. “I don’t think this group has that potential,” he said.
Carville agreed. “AOC is smart,” he said. “I could be in the same party with her in many ways. I can’t be in the same party with Miss Chevalier. Can’t do it. Sorry.”
Sources
- Carville declares he 'can’t be in the same party' as Mamdani-backed candidates, calls for formal schism
- James Carville moves to split Democratic Party
