Darializa Avila Chevalier, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidate to unseat Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), on Friday defended her attendance at an anti-Israel rally one day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, denied knowledge regarding her own history of posting anti-U.S. and pro-Russian sentiments online and maintained she owed nothing to the Texas tycoon underwriting a PAC backing her campaign.

The Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed congressional contender faced a battery of questions from reporters following a press conference, including over her decision to participate in an anti-Israel protest organized by pro-China, pro-Iran groups on Oct. 8, 2023, that even Mamdani and then-city Comptroller Brad Lander condemned at the time. Chevalier maintained that she had consistently opposed Hamas and “the celebration of the loss of life,” but refused to speak to the taking of hostages or to whether she had denounced the attack from the outset.

She also showed no regret for joining the demonstration.

“I was at this rally because I have always, as someone who has followed the issues that happened in the region, I have seen a pattern in which whenever there is an incident, the State of Israel engages in a response that is often disproportionate and creates a greater loss of life,” she said. “And that is what I was there to stand against.”

The candidate also asserted she had learned of GOP-leaning Dallas-area businessman Hussein “Sam” Mahrouq’s support for her candidacy via the anti-Israel American Priorities PAC from news reports. She insisted that she is in no way indebted to her financial backers, even though she has accused Espaillat of being “bought by the Israeli lobby” for support he has received from AIPAC and its supporters.

She also professed ignorance of why she had called the U.S. “a f***ing disgrace” on X and accused the country of having “bullied” Russia into attacking Ukraine.

“I’m not sure what the context of those comments was coming from,” she said.