Will the Socialist Sweep Come to Colorado? Far-Left Candidate Who Called 9/11 'Inevitable' Threatens 30-Year Incumbent Dem in Denver.
Melat Kiros, backed by Hasan Piker, holds a 5-point lead over Rep. Diana DeGette ahead of Tuesday's primary
(9NEWS)
Ethan Barton
June 26, 2026
On the heels of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's (D.) socialist sweep in New York City congressional primaries, a far-left House challenger who called both the October 7 and September 11 terror attacks "inevitable" appears well-positioned to take down an established Democrat who has represented Denver for nearly 30 years.
Both the challenger, self-described democratic socialist Melat Kiros, and her opponent, Rep. Diana DeGette, opted to qualify for the upcoming June 30 primary ballot through a vote from Denver Democrats at a local party convention in late March, where candidates must receive at least 30 percent of the vote to secure ballot access. Kiros trounced DeGette, receiving 67 percent of the vote to the 15-term incumbent's 33 percent, meaning that DeGette nearly failed to qualify for the primary. Months later, in June, a poll conducted for Justice Democrats by Data for Progress showed Kiros with a 5-point lead.
Kiros, like the Mamdani-backed House challengers in New York, is an outspoken anti-Israel activist. During a May interview with radical anti-American streamer Hasan Piker—who has said "America deserved 9/11"—Kiros called Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack "an inevitable consequence of apartheid, of occupation, decades of occupation." The remark prompted a rebuke from the Jewish Community Relations Council, which accused Kiros of having "ignored or treated as morally insignificant" the "fears and lived experiences" of Jews. It also prompted a reporter for Denver's NBC affiliate, Kyle Clark, to ask Kiros if she believed the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks "were the inevitable consequence of American foreign policy." Kiros said they were.
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/will-the-socialist-sweep-come-to-colorado-far-left-candidate-who-called-9-11-inevitable-threatens-30-year-incumbent-dem-in-denver/
