Bill Maher used Friday's episode of Real Time with Bill Maher to designate Darializa Avila Chevalier — the 32-year-old socialist who just won the Democratic primary for New York's 13th Congressional District — as "patient zero" of what he called the "woke mind virus," after the New York Times editorial board failed to extract a direct answer from her on whether a convicted murderer should go to prison. Backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and running on a platform of abolishing ICE, prisons, and borders, Avila Chevalier is now the clearest test yet of how far left a major urban district will go — and Maher is arguing the answer should alarm everyone else.
The Moment That Crystallized the Critique
The New York Times editorial board pressed Avila Chevalier repeatedly on what her prison abolitionist views would mean in practice for someone who commits murder. She declined to endorse incarceration, offering instead that the violence itself was "a reflection of systems that allowed that circumstance to be possible." Maher's summary was surgical: "The New York Times asked her, 'If someone murders someone randomly, should they go to jail?' Couldn't get her to say yes for that."
That exchange is the crux of Maher's case, and it is a hard one to argue around. The editorial board gave her every opportunity to carve out a narrow exception, and she did not take it.
What Her Platform Actually Says
The breadth of Avila Chevalier's stated positions makes the murder question less of an anomaly and more of a logical endpoint. The New York Times has described her as a candidate who has "voiced support for abolishing the police, borders and prisons and seizing property from landlords." Her campaign website calls for abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, Housing for All, and a "Babies, not Bombs" foreign policy that would redirect money currently spent on foreign wars.
On immigration, she drew the same unqualified line. "I am not OK with any deportation," she told the editorial board. "I think all deportation is wrong because I think it is an incredibly cruel punishment that is really only relegated to people on the basis of where they were born."
Maher also flagged her reported plan to take a knee during the congressional oath of office, and past statements describing the United States as "occupied native land" and, in his characterization, calling the country "a f---ing disgrace."
A Primary Result With Real Consequences
None of this is fringe performance — Avila Chevalier won. She defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the sitting congressman and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, 49.4% to 45.9%. Mayor Mamdani, who endorsed her and has stood by her despite scrutiny over her social media history, now has a fellow socialist heading toward Congress from New York.
The general election will settle whether these positions survive outside a Democratic primary. Fox News Digital sought comment from Avila Chevalier's campaign and did not receive a response.