Many think the union organizer should be running for Mexican congress instead. A self-described socialist Democrat has gone viral online after stating she would bring the Mexican fight for independence to the U.S. Congress if elected. Union organizer and New York Assemblywoman Claire Valdez is running for New York’s 7th District but posted a message of defiance against “empire” and corporations.
“Viva guacamole, or whatever it is you traitors scream,” she wrote on social media Wednesday.
“215 years ago, Mexicans fought an empire that demanded our land and our labor. And we won,” she said. Valdez added, “I’ll carry that fight with me to Congress as New York’s first Mexican American representative. And I’m strengthened not just by Mexico’s history but its present. Last month I met comrades in Morena who are standing up to the empires and corporations that have always been taken from us — and building a government for the working class.”
No one apparently noted that the nickname for New York is the “Empire State,” and Valdez claims to be running against “empire.” The official nickname derives from a compliment made by George Washington. The Democratic Socialists of America party has celebrated a string of primary victories against more establishment candidates, leading many to warn that the fringe extreme is gaining influence in the Democratic Party.
