A socialist Democrat who blamed America for the 9/11 attacks just won a congressional primary in Colorado — and conservatives are sounding the alarm.
Melat Kiros defeated longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District Democratic primary Tuesday. Within hours, her past comments about the September 11 terror attacks ignited a firestorm on social media.
Kiros previously suggested the U.S. made the 2001 World Trade Center attacks — which killed nearly 3,000 Americans — “inevitable” through its foreign policy.
“Inevitable in the sense that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East. That forced people to believe that another act of violence was the only response.”
The Republican National Committee responded with one word: “SICK!”
GOP strategist Steve Guest called the primary upset worse than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 victory over 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley.
“This is the Democrat party,” Guest said in a post to X.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., didn’t hold back.
“One radical lunatic after the next is coming to Washington,” Lawler said. “Why would we ever want to empower someone who believes 9/11 is America’s fault?”
Kiros is a Ph.D. student and lawyer who was fired from a New York law firm in 2023 after publishing an open letter defending anti-Israel student protesters and appearing to defend Hamas.
She described the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel as the “inevitable consequence of apartheid.”
When asked about a deadly firebombing targeting pro-Israel protesters in Boulder last year, Kiros declined to call it antisemitic.
“I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator,” Kiros told Colorado’s 9News. “All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might have believed.”
Her campaign platform mirrors the Democratic Socialists of America wish list: Medicare-for-all, abolishing ICE, ending all wars, and universal childcare.
“As someone who’s working as a barista to pay for school and health care, I know what it’s like to work so hard to get ahead while Washington is so far behind,” Kiros said in a campaign video.
Conservative media personality Benny Johnson warned that Kiros’ victory signals a troubling trend nationwide.
“She is a socialist who was born in Ethiopia. Melat also thinks America deserved 9/11,” Johnson said. “It isn’t just happening in New York; Democrats are losing their entire party.”
Clay Travis, founder of OutKick, counted the damage: four Democratic incumbents losing primaries to socialists in one week.
“Every state now has a Mamdani [and] the Democrat Party is on a rapid descent to Communism,” Travis wrote.
Kiros will face Republican Christy Peterson, a local accountant, in the general election on Nov. 3.
This is light years worse than AOC beating 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley.
Melat Kiros just ousted a 15-term Democrat incumbent in Diana DeGette. https://t.co/AC9pTwt0Dq
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 1, 2026
SICK!
Democrats' newest nominee in Colorado, Melat Kiros, said 9/11 was America's fault.
Q: Was 9/11 an inevitable consequence for America?
KIROS: “[America] forced people to believe that another act of violence was the only response.” pic.twitter.com/Yjp1qScHuk
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 1, 2026
