Van Jones: ‘Roof is collapsing on Democratic Party establishment’

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CNN correspondent Van Jones reacted to major wins from Democratic candidates in New York on Tuesday evening, which unseated two of the party’s incumbent lawmakers.

“This is a battle between the establishment and this insurgency, and the roof is collapsing on the Democratic Party establishment tonight,” Jones said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source.”

Three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, secured wins in their respective House races on Tuesday. The victors include progressive Brad Lander and democratic socialists Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier.

“If Mamdani gets a hat trick, three out of three, this is a new era for the Democratic Party,” Jones told host Kaitlan Collins, before the elections were called. “And you can’t write off New York City because this is the … power center for the establishment and the insurgency, and they’re going head-to-head tonight.”

Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton responded to Jones’s comments during a CNN panel later in the show, calling this a “consequential moment” for the Democratic Party.

“Democrats have now become the party of socialism,” Singleton wrote on the social platform X on Wednesday morning. “That must be the message from every Republican on TV for the next several months. Every ad and social media post should be a constant reminder of it.”

President Trump appeared to slam these New York candidates as “Communists” in Truth Social posts following their victories on Tuesday evening.

“America the Beautiful will NEVER be a Communist Country!!!” Trump wrote in one post.

The president has often incorrectly conflated democratic socialism with communism, though they are two distinct political ideologies. He slammed Mamdani as a “100% Communist Lunatic” during his mayoral campaign and claimed the now-mayor’s policies are “destroying New York.”

Progressive movement leader Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) celebrated Lander’s and Valdez’s “landslide victories” in a Tuesday statement shared on social media.

“Together, we are creating a grassroots progressive movement that will defeat the Oligarchs,” he wrote.

Tags

2026 midterm elections

Bernie Sanders

Brad Lander

Claire Valdez

CNN

Darializa Avila Chevalier

Democratic Party

Donald Trump

establishment Democrats

Kaitlan Collins

Mamdani-backed candidates

New York primaries

Van Jones

Zohran Mamdani

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