Right-wing media turns to Supreme Court after democratic socialist wave

Conservative Media Coverage Focuses on New York Democratic Primaries and Immigration Policy

Democratic Congressional candidate Brad Lander stands with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after winning the 10th District Democratic primary on June 23, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Lander defeated incumbent Dan Goldman. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani prevailed in Democratic congressional primaries held on June 23, 2026. Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in Manhattan and Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional District. In the 13th District, community and union organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated Rep. Adriano Espaillat. State assembly member Claire Valdez won in the open seventh District. All three districts are heavily Democratic and favored the winners in the November general election.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the New York City mayoral primary in 2025. Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates have secured city council seats in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland and San Antonio. In Washington, D.C., DSA-backed Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic mayoral nomination. Seattle elected Katie Wilson as mayor. In Los Angeles, DSA member Nithya Raman advanced to the mayoral runoff.

Organizations including the Democratic Socialists of America, Justice Democrats and Our Revolution have recruited candidates and mobilized support in local races. Two sitting Democratic members of Congress lost renomination in the 2026 cycle. Progressives won several open-seat primaries in New York, Texas, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and advanced in California. Establishment-backed Democrats defeated progressive challengers in Illinois statewide and congressional races where the DSA offered no endorsements. Establishment candidates also won New York’s comptroller primary and the state’s most competitive Republican-held House district.

Conservative media outlets described the New York results as evidence of broader Democratic Party shifts. Coverage examined past statements by the winning candidates. Chevalier’s deleted social media posts from the early 2020s included references to the United States as a “f**king disgrace,” calls for Joe Biden to be labeled a “war criminal,” and use of an American flag as a napkin. Additional statements advocated for the elimination of borders and police and asserted that Israel “doesn’t exist.” These statements received repeated airtime on conservative networks.

During discussion of Brad Lander’s victory, Newsmax featured Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who said Lander was “a disgrace,” “anti-American,” and “anti-Semitic, even though he’s Jewish,” adding that Lander “would be a camp guard in a concentration camp if he could.” Ben Shapiro stated on The Daily Wire that Lander “calls himself a Jew so that he doesn’t have to call himself a white guy.”

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he had prepared for the return of communists. In a speech, Trump described the midterm elections as a contest between Republicans and “communists” and stated that a rent freeze would turn apartment buildings into “ghettos and slums.”

Fox News programs linked the results to immigration. Jesse Watters said, “This is what happens when you import the third world,” and described the outcome as “a third world takeover.” Laura Ingraham stated that the lead-up to July 4 served as “one big trigger warning to the Mamdani minions” and that “They’re happiest when foreign flags are flying. Because to them, red, white, and blue . . . is like sunshine to a vampire.” Steve Bannon described New York as a “foreign city” and said Mamdani’s base was “foreign” and that sanctuary cities operated “by design.” Matt Walsh posted that “Third world communists are the enemy” and that they had “taken over our greatest American city” while hating “this country,” “white people,” and “our heritage and traditions.”

U.S. Census Bureau data for 2023 show that 37.2 percent of New York City’s population was foreign-born. Among residents aged five and older, 48.7 percent spoke a language other than English at home. Similar patterns appear in Los Angeles. Voting data from recent cycles indicate higher support for Democratic candidates among foreign-born residents and their U.S.-born children in these cities compared with native-born populations without recent immigrant ties.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller made statements in June 2025 after Mamdani’s mayoral primary victory. Miller wrote that Democrats had “imported a new electorate.” On Sean Hannity’s program, Miller said a vote for any Democrat empowered a party that “wants to strip this country to the bone.” He noted that half of college graduates in New York City were foreign-born or from immigrant households and stated that New York had changed demographically. Miller added that the financial future of New York and Los Angeles was influenced by recent arrivals who lacked experience with American democratic institutions.

A 6–3 Supreme Court decision permitted continuation of certain border restrictions. Coverage on conservative programs connected the ruling to ongoing immigration enforcement. Megyn Kelly stated on her podcast that populations affected by Temporary Protected Status decisions should “Go home, get out!” and that the country was built by specific work ethic, culture, and values that new arrivals diluted. Kelly said more than half would not assimilate and directed some to “Go back to f**king Haiti.” She contrasted this with potential immigrants from European countries such as Norway.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on birthright citizenship later in 2026. The case involves challenges to the application of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause to children of non-citizens. Lower courts have issued conflicting rulings on the scope of the clause. The Trump administration has supported limits on automatic citizenship in certain cases. Oral arguments and filings are expected to address historical intent, statutory language, and administrative practice since 1898.

Republican leaders have stated that Democratic primary outcomes in heavily Democratic districts will feature in 2028 campaign messaging. Democratic Party officials have described the winners as reflecting local voter preferences within safe districts and noted continued variation in primary results across states.