A high-ranking aide to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani reportedly went berserk on ABC News executives over a remark made by The View’s Sara Haines back in June.
Haines, 48, called New York Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier an ‘antisemite’ on June 24.
A ‘top’ Mamdani staffer saw the segment and swiftly contacted showrunners, a person familiar with the conversation told Semafor.
The aide suggested Haines’ words could severely hinder the program’s chances of hosting the New York City mayor and other democratic socialist candidates, sources told the publication.
Mamdani also attempted to get Avila Chevalier, 32, and fellow Democratic socialist Claire Valdez on the show ‘earlier this year,’ Semafor learned.
Both proposals were rejected, however, the source said – citing the Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing probe into the program for purported liberal bias. Producers were said to be showing an abundance of caution.
An ABC source also told the Daily Mail this week that The View very rarely hosts non-elected political candidates.
Both women won their congressional primary races last month after receiving ringing endorsements from Mamdani.
Sara Haines, 48, called a New York Congressional candidate endorsed by the city’s mayor an ‘antisemite’ because of her presence at a pro-Palestine event on October 8, 2023, on June 24’s episode of The View
A ‘top’ Mamdani staffer saw the segment and swiftly contacted showrunners, a person familiar with the conversation said. Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared on the View in January
The mayor appeared on The View back in January. The aide mentioned in the Semafor report was not named.
The View segment that set them off was aired a day after Avila Chevalier’s big win in her district’s Democratic primary.
Past statements from the progressive rapidly became a talking point.
Haines took issue with Avila Chevalier attending a pro-Palestine rally on October 8, 2023. Haines accused the candidate of ‘celebrating’ the deadly attacks that transpired the day before.
‘On October 8, the only thing that had happened is Israel had been attacked. And people had been brutally murdered and raped. And so on October 8, I don’t think there needed to be rallies cheering on Hamas,’ Haines said.
Far-left panelist Sunny Hostin asked if Haines was calling the then-candidate an antisemite.
‘Oh, yes. She would proudly call herself that, trust me,’ Haines said.
Past social media posts from Avila Chevalier have also received scrutiny.
He later endorsed Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, along with two other far-left Democratic socialists
An aide for the mayor contacted showrunners after Haines’ rant and suggested other Democratic socialists wouldn’t appear on the program in the future
One panned then-President Joe Biden as a ‘rapist.’ Another claimed ‘Israel doesn’t exist.’ A post from September 2019 framed white women in interracial relationships as ‘ugly colonizers.’ All have been deleted.
Avila Chevalier has also called for the complete abolishment of ICE. She told Vox in June that she believes ‘all deportations are wrong.’
She supports the Defund the Police movement and ‘seizing property from landlords,’ a recent New York Times report noted.
A City and State profile recently suggested Avila Chevalier might be ‘the next AOC.’
She is one of three leftist candidates in New York being endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, all of whom won their primaries.
Semafor also found that the far-left opinion show hasn’t hosted a single political candidate from a competitive midterm race since Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was on the show nearly half a year ago.
The appearance spawned scrutiny from the FCC and the revival of ‘the equal time rule’ – a 92-year-old guidance originally designed to ensure broadcast stations provided equal time to opposing political candidates when it was passed in the 1930s.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in February called a probe into whether The View should continue to enjoy exemptions that have long allowed it to ignore those stipulations.
After Far-left panelist Sunny Hostin asked if Haines saw Avila Chevalier as an antisemite, Haines didn’t hold back ‘Oh, yes. She would proudly call herself that, trust me,’ she said
ABC’s legal team maintained in a filing related to the case on Tuesday that the show was being singled out due to being disfavored by the Trump Administration.
The inquiry, while still being fought, was enough for showrunners to ‘hedge’ who comes on the show, the analysis from Semafor found.
The Daily Mail has approached both Mayor Mamdani’s office and ABC News for comment.
