Mamdani-backed candidate spread Chinese communist COVID claims
A far-left candidate challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York's 13th district drew criticism for promoting a debunked conspiracy theory that COVID-19 originated in France, citing Chinese propaganda.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is running against Rep. Adriano Espaillat in Manhattan’s 13th congressional district, made the bizarre claim in a May 2020 tweet that has recently resurfaced, according to New York Post.
The 32-year-old candidate quoted the Qiao Collective, a known Chinese propaganda outlet, which falsely claimed that hospitals in France confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks in November 2019, a month before cases emerged in China.
“So you mean that once again it was PoC who intervened and stopped the spread of a European plague? Wow. Shocked,” Avila Chevalier wrote on May 10, 2020, apparently referring to people of color.
The Qiao Collective openly describes itself as a group of Chinese diaspora writers and researchers dedicated to challenging Western media narratives and opposing U.S. policies toward China. The organization explicitly states its goal of bridging the American left with China’s Marxist political thought and promoting socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The France-origin theory has been thoroughly discredited. Scientific and intelligence communities have reached broad consensus that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, either from a wholesale market or through a laboratory leak at a nearby research facility.
Avila Chevalier is mounting a primary challenge against the 71-year-old Espaillat, who currently chairs the House Hispanic Caucus and is seeking his sixth term. Her campaign has garnered endorsements from mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Jay Jacobs, chairman of the New York State Democratic Party and an Espaillat supporter, condemned the candidate’s promotion of conspiracy theories during the pandemic’s peak.
“These are serious times. We need serious people. This not an example of a serious thinker. This is not evidence of a serious person,” Jacobs said, adding that Espaillat has established himself as a serious legislator focused on improving constituents’ lives.
The revelation comes amid growing concerns about Chinese Communist Party influence operations in New York City and across the United States through intelligence activities and networks of affiliated left-wing organizations.
Avila Chevalier’s campaign declined to comment on the resurfaced tweet.
The candidate is already facing scrutiny over other controversial social media posts from recent years, which Espaillat has highlighted in campaign advertising. Those posts include crude attacks on then-Senator Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, whom she called a rapist despite Biden’s denials and the absence of criminal charges.
In another deleted social media post, Avila Chevalier joked about disrespecting the American flag, writing that she wiped her hand on a flag behind her when she forgot to get napkins, accompanied by a smiling emoji.
The 13th congressional district encompasses northern Manhattan neighborhoods including Morningside Heights, Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and portions of the northwest Bronx.
With information from New York Post
