At a March 2026 fundraiser called "Choose Your Fighter," hosted by the progressive group Progressive Victory, left-wing podcaster Kyle Kulinski stood in front of Democratic Socialists of America-backed congressional candidates and laid out the problem as he saw it. "If Iran's off the table as a regional power," Kulinski said, "that means Hezbollah can't be funded. Hamas can't be funded. The Houthis can't be funded."
He said this like it was a bad thing.
The event featured DSA congressional hopefuls Darializa Avila Chevalier and Melat Kiros — the latter of whom unseated 15-term Colorado Representative Diana DeGette. Also in attendance: former Representative Cori Bush of Missouri, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and California Representative Ro Khanna.
Kulinski didn't stop at lamenting the defunding of designated terrorist organizations. He went further, calling U.S. and Israeli officials "the terrorists." He declared that the American government — the one these candidates are running to join — is the terrorist operation, and Iran is the victim.
Progressive Victory's deputy executive director, Benjamin Gilbert-Lif, was asked about the remarks. He didn't distance the organization. He didn't clarify. He said the group stands by the comments because they reflect "the views of our community." That's worth reading twice — not because it's surprising, but because it's an official spokesman confirming that sympathy for Iran's terrorist-financing apparatus is a community value.
Khanna's office scrambled for distance. A spokesperson said the congressman "joined for 5 minutes to speak and left" and "was not on at the time these remarks were made," adding that he "obviously disagrees." Khanna is one of the many candidates vying to become the 2028 nominee for president for the Democrat Party, which makes his denial all the more slimy. Pretend not to know what's going on and run away from extremist positions despite slapping your face on the flyer for the event.
This is the faction that now holds actual seats. Kiros didn't win a symbolic primary in a safe district nobody watches — she beat a 15-term incumbent. These aren't fringe podcasters yelling into the void. They're candidates with donor infrastructure, organizational backing, and enough support to flip established Democratic seats.
The fundraiser was called "Choose Your Fighter." They chose — and their fighters are mourning that a state sponsor of terrorism lost its ability to arm groups responsible for killing Americans, Israelis, and thousands of civilians across the Middle East.
When "the views of our community" include grief over defunded terrorism, the community has a problem it can't fundraise its way out of.
