Tim Burchett Vows to Bar Socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier from Congress Over Flag Napkin Disgrace

Representative Tim Burchett said he plans to try to block New York Democratic congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier from taking office if she wins her upcoming election, pointing to past comments in which Chevalier said she would use the American flag as a napkin.

Burchett told the New York Post that he would seek to use a simple majority vote in January to prevent Chevalier from being seated in the House if she wins election to Congress.

“You take an oath to uphold the Constitution, and you’re pretty much disavowing it right there. I just think we’ve lost our compass,” Burchett said.

Burchett tied his objections to his own family history, saying the American flag carries personal meaning because of the service of his uncle.

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“I’m looking at a 48-star flag that hung on my uncle’s casket and [he] died fighting the Nazis, and then see somebody going to get elected to Congress in New York who said they use that flag for a napkin,” Burchett said.

He continued by arguing that the flag represents sacrifices made by generations of Americans.

“I thought, man, that same dadgum flag hung on my uncle’s casket. It’s the same flag that men and women fought and died for to free the slaves, and that’s what they’re using as a napkin.”

Burchett also challenged Democrats to consider whether they would support seating a member who had made comments like Chevalier’s.

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“If we vote to seat them, is one Democrat going to say no? I’m not going to vote to seat those people. Are they gonna say anything? Democrats died for this country as well as Republicans did,” Burchett said.

He also called on the Democratic Party to “get some guts” and to “get their rudder back for the working people.”

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) says he will try to block NY-13 Democratic nominee and democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier from taking her seat in Congress over a deleted 2019 post saying she used an American flag as a napkin, per @nypost. https://t.co/KwVlvnDLoC

— VoteHub (@VoteHub) October 3, 2026

The dispute raises questions about the House’s authority over the seating of elected members. Under the U.S. Constitution, both the House of Representatives and the Senate have authority to judge the elections and qualifications of their own members.

A previous conflict over that authority occurred in 1967, when the House voted to exclude Democratic Representative Adam Clayton Powell. Two years later, the Supreme Court ruled that the House had exceeded its constitutional authority in that case.

Chevalier is running in New York’s 13th Congressional District after defeating incumbent Democratic Representative Adriano Espaillat in the party primary.

The controversy cited by Burchett stems from a 2019 post Chevalier made on then-Twitter. In that post, she wrote, “I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me.”

That remark has become one of several past actions and statements drawing attention as Chevalier campaigns for Congress.

Chevalier previously participated in the 2024 campus takeover at Columbia. She was connected to a group that called for the “total eradication of Western civilization.”

She has also called the United States a “f*cking disgrace.”

Burchett’s proposed effort would come if Chevalier wins the general election and appears before the House to be seated in January. His position is that her past comments about the American flag conflict with the oath members of Congress take to uphold the Constitution.

His remarks also framed the dispute as broader than party politics. By pointing out that Democrats as well as Republicans have died in service to the country, Burchett questioned whether any Democratic lawmakers would be willing to oppose seating Chevalier if the issue came to a vote.

Chevalier’s path to the general election came after she defeated Espaillat, the incumbent Democrat, in the primary for New York’s 13th District.

Burchett, meanwhile, is making clear that he does not intend to treat her election alone as the end of the matter. If Chevalier wins, he says he will attempt to force a House vote on whether she should be allowed to take her seat.

The effort would put Chevalier’s past statements, congressional authority and the constitutional limits on excluding elected members at the center of a potentially significant fight when the new Congress convenes.

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