Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, responsible for electing House Democrats, downplayed concerns about the party’s response to antisemitism in the wake of New York City elections that elevated several far-left candidates.

Asked repeatedly about Jewish Democrats’ concerns in an interview on former NBC News anchor Chuck Todd’s program “Sunday Night with Chuck Todd” on the platform Noosphere, DelBene repeatedly brushed those concerns aside. She said that Democratic leaders’ condemnation of and efforts to defeat openly antisemitic candidate Maureen Galindo in Texas show that the party has been strong in response to rising antisemitism.

But the response from Democratic leadership to New York congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier — who attended an anti-Israel rally a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, shared a post rejecting the existence of Israel and was an organizer of anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University — has been muted.

DelBene avoided commenting on Chevalier, who defeated incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), directly. “If you look across the board and talk to individual candidates, that’s not representative of where other candidates land.”

“I think folks have been very forceful across the board. I think there always is a focus on what any one individual said, but I think if you look collectively at what people have said and stood for across the country, I think people have been very clear on many issues on where they stand.”

DelBene dismissed the New York City results as unrepresentative of the rest of the country.

Asked broadly if democratic socialists are welcome in the Democratic Party, DelBene said, “We’re a big tent. I want to make sure that our big tent is a tent that is in the majority and that we have the gavels.” 

Pressed if her response indicates socialists are welcome, the Washington congresswoman again demurred: “People, voters are choosing people across the country, and those are part of folks who are being elected, and they’re going to come and join the caucus. I gotta tell you, we have just incredible candidates running and my job, our job, is to make sure we have those gavels so we can do the work of the American people.”