Some on the left were rattled by three socialist candidates sweeping the Democratic primaries in New York City on Tuesday night, but not Sunny Hostin.

The View co-host and NYC native was pretty stoked about the development. She told her fellow panelists on Wednesday’s show that she viewed the rise of Democratic Socialist candidates as the left-wing version of the Tea Party pushback against ex-President Barack Obama.

Hostin argued the socialist Democrats are now getting support because Americans are tired of President Donald Trump and other issues, like unaffordable healthcare.

Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Democrats should be worried about socialists taking over their party, much like she was worried about hard right-wingers taking over the Republican Party. Griffin said this was “very dangerous” and that mainstream Dems may not be able to get their “party back.”

Hostin said she disagreed.

“I think that New York is the nation’s cultural and political capital and that’s just a fact,” Hostin said. “And the Democratic Socialists of America is a force to be reckoned with at this point.”

The crowd cheered her answer.

Griffin fired back, saying hard-left voters “took out” incumbent Sen. Dan Goldman (D-NY) for his pro-Israel views — even though he has been a vocal Trump critic and pro-LGBTQ.

“Perhaps it’s time for change,” Hostin said. “The Democratic Party for a very long time has been searching for an identity… I see a great parallel between the rise of the Tea Party in 2009 as a rebuttal basically to President Obama’s policies and the financial crisis and the Democratic Socialists of America’s rise in 2016 in reaction to Donald Trump, in reaction to healthcare.”

Their exchange came after three socialist candidates backed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries on Tuesday night.

Two of the candidates — Darializa Avila Chevalier (D) and Claire Valdez (D) — are card-carrying members of the Democratic Socialists of America, just like the mayor. The third candidate is Brad Lander (D), a former member of the DSA who left the organization after its response to the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel.

Still, he earned Mamdani’s support by running more critically of Israel than did incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY). Lander has claimed American support for Israel made the USA “complicit in genocide.” 

Beyond their shared socialist beliefs, the three candidates also agree with Mamdani that ICE needs to be abolished.

The socialist wave was celebrated by Mamdani on Tuesday night, but a number of establishment Democrats were unsettled by it. One centrist House Democrat told Axios that 2027 would be a “headache” for the party with them around, while another House Dem reacted to the sweep by saying “Holy sh*t.”

Meanwhile, Trump sardonically congratulated Mamdani on getting “3 solid Communists” elected.

Watch above.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!