President Donald Trump called Tuesday’s primary election wins of progressive candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani “the greatest threat to our country since its founding,” smearing them on Friday as communists who “will kill your people.”
Trump was speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s 2026 Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., after Democratic socialists Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier and progressive liberal Brad Lander all won their primaries Tuesday — to the president’s chagrin.
“I’m sorry to say, but assassinations of those who oppose [communists] is a very important element of their ideology,” Trump claimed Friday. “Assassination is a big deal for them. They are animals … In many cases, they are not smart, but in some cases, they are.”
Trump warned that people will “start living in squalor” if this progressive wave continues, noting, “It’s happening right now in New York.”
“These are not social democrats,” Trump said Friday. “These are hardcore godless communists. They’re godless communists. All communists are godless. They don’t believe in God. This is the most serious threat to our country since its existence, in my opinion.”
Trump went on to claim “these ruthless communists” are hellbent on destroying “all religions” and then boasted about recent U.S. airstrikes that killed high-ranking ISIS leaders in Nigeria, likening the toppling of leadership there to his war on Iran.
“We know where they are. We hunt them down or we take them down. Think of it, they go into a village and they just kill everybody. It’s crazy,” he continued. “They will close your churches in this country if they go communist, and they’re trying to. They will kill your people.”
Trump’s speech was a prime example of his self-described “weave,” or rambling stream-of-consciousness speaking style, as he conflated the dangers of ISIS leaders, communists and the progressives who won their elections in seemingly the same breath.
“It’s the greatest threat,” said Trump. “People don’t look at that. ‘Oh, three people were elected.’ No, no, it’s many more than three people, and the other people are being swayed because they don’t have the sense to see what’s happening. They don’t have the sense.”
Lander, Valdez and Chevalier have all criticized Israel and its genocide in Palestine in recent years, prompting accusations of antisemitism. Lander is Jewish, Chevalier is Muslim and Valdez has largely remained private about her religious beliefs.
Their primary wins have not only upset Republicans, but also Democrats have cast aspersions on this progressive Mamdani-backed wing. On Friday, even “Real Time” host Bill Maher told his guest, Vice President JD Vance, that he might stop voting Democrat.