Americans gathered on the National Mall for President Donald Trump’s America250 kickoff at the Great American State Fair said New York’s socialist surge is a warning sign for Democrats — one they argue history has already rejected.

«If you study history, you will see that many countries have already tried to go down that path and ended up in disaster,» said 11th grade Georgia teacher Jill. «If you talk to immigrants who came from countries that were socialist, they will tell you they left you know tending toward communist countries. They left for that reason.»

Fox News Digital spoke with Americans who gathered on the National Mall Wednesday evening for Trump’s rally kicking off the Great American State Fair celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary, where attendees shared why they believe socialism would fail in the United States.

The comments follow New York City socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani scoring another political victory Tuesday, with all three congressional candidates he endorsed—Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier—winning their respective Democratic primaries.

WINNERS AND LOSERS EMERGE AFTER SOCIALIST EARTHQUAKE ROCKS NYC PRIMARIES

The victories were widely viewed as another sign of Mamdani’s growing influence in the Democrat Party and the increasing acceptance of socialism. 

The socialist victories in several high-profile New York Democratic primaries drew a sharp political contrast that many attendees of Trump’s rally told Fox News Digital served as a stark reminder of the direction they fear the country is heading.

Rally attendee Jill told Fox News Digital that she traveled to East Germany at the age of 16 when the Berlin Wall was coming down, an experience she now brings into the classroom by showing her students photos from the trip.

«I show my students pictures, and we talk about what communism means … capitalism is what’s got us here. We’ve been a capitalist country for a very long time. They have to be extremely careful when voting. They need to study and be well-informed voters,» Jill continued.

While socialism collapsed in the Soviet Union and East Germany, it continues to shape the governments of countries such as Cuba and Venezuela—two nations that President Donald Trump has made a focus of his foreign policy efforts in an effort to support democratic change.

NYC VOTERS EMBRACE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM AS AOC, SANDERS STUMP FOR MAMDANI

Trump supporters speak to Fox News Digital at Great American State Fair rally. (Hannah Brennan/Fox News Digital)

«I don’t support socialism … If you look at Cuba, the difference there… compared to even the other Caribbean countries around it, it’s totally different. And they’re driving old cars. They don’t have even heating and air … capitalism makes that possible. And so I’m very much in favor of working for what you want … I still think America is a place where the American dream can still come true,» said Toni of Kentucky.

«A hundred million people died from communism, whether it be from China and Mao or Stalin and Russia, Hitler. We can’t forget our history, or we have a tendency to repeat it, and we should definitely reject this. It’s never worked anywhere. And capitalism and a free market society has benefited the world,» David of Annapolis, Maryland, said.

Jennifer, who traveled from Tennessee, said she is worried about the rise of socialism in America. 

«It’s not something that’s beneficial for our country and our values,» she said.

Former Rochester, New York, resident Norma told Fox News Digital she has 10 grandchildren and is worried about the next generation.

«New York is pretty much, I hate to say, far gone… I lived there for 22 years. There are conservative people there, but unfortunately, there’s this new agenda coming through,» she said.

NYC VOTERS FLOCK TO SOCIALIST-STYLE FREEBIES AS MAMDANI PUSHES RENT FREEZES, CITY-RUN STORES

A father and son traveled from New York. (Ashley DiMella/Fox News Digital)

Mamdani has faced criticism from conservatives over proposals including fare-free city buses, universal free childcare and city-run grocery stores, with Americans at the event telling Fox News Digital that «free» programs ultimately come at taxpayers’ expense.

«Socialism promises everything, but they can’t deliver past everybody’s money… history has shown where socialism fails… the proof is in the pudding,» said Billy of North Carolina.

«I don’t agree with it at all… we can’t function on giving everything away for free,» said Nicky of Tennessee.

DANGEROUS OR AN OPPORTUNITY? SOCIAL MEDIA AS VENUE FOR DISCUSSING POLITICS DEBATED BY YOUNG CONSERVATIVES

People watch as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally to kick off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

When Fox News Digital asked Gen Z and Millennial voters whether Mamdani is «cool,» Sarah of Massachusetts and Johanna and Elizabeth of California responded, «no.»

«I understand the appeal that socialism has, but definitely don’t think that it’s the right way our country should be going. I think in theory it makes sense,» said Sarah. «In reality, that’s not how it ends up looking. It’s definitely scary to see so many of my generation leaning that way.»

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«It’s a really good concept to have everything for free in socialism, but it doesn’t really work out in the real world,» added Johanna. «If you look at the countries that have already tried socialism, it really hasn’t worked. It also doesn’t encourage innovation.»

Elizabeth, visiting Washington, D.C. for the week, said she agreed with her friends, adding, «I’m not a socialist. I’m a Republican.»

En la noche del 17 de febrero de 1974, una pareja de adolescentes se encontraba dentro de un auto estacionado frente a una pista de bowling en Fort Worth, Texas. Habían ido a bailar, reírse con amigos y pasar unas horas juntos antes de volver a sus casas. Nada hacía imaginar que ese encuentro terminaría convirtiéndose en uno de los crímenes más desconcertantes de la historia del estado.

De repente, un hombre armado se acercó hasta el vehículo y, en cuestión de segundos, golpeó al joven que estaba al volante, Rodney McCoy, y obligó a la chica a salir del auto. Ella intentó resistirse, gritó y forecejeó, pero el atacante logró llevársela por la fuerza. Esa fue la última vez que alguien vio con vida a Carla Walker.

Durante casi 50 años, el caso permaneció sin resolver. La policía tenía pruebas, testimonios y sospechas, pero ninguna pista lograba dar con el paradero del responsable. La familia de la víctima convivó por décadas con la incertidumbre, hasta que, gracias a los avances científicos, los investigadores lograron identificar a su asesino.

El secuestro que conmocionó a Texas

Carla Jan Walker había nacido en Texas y tenía 17 años cuando fue asesinada. Para febrero de 1974, estaba terminando la secundaria y mantenía una relación con Rodney McCoy, otro estudiante de Fort Worth.

En la noche del crimen, ambos fueron a un baile escolar por el Día de San Valentín y luego pasaron un rato dentro del auto del chico. Cerca de la medianoche, un hombre se acercó y los amenazó con un arma.

Según declaró posteriormente McCoy, el atacante lo golpeó violentamente en la cabeza con la culata de la pistola y lo obligó a bajar del auto. Luego apuntó a Carla y le pidió que haga lo mismo.

Si bien la adolescente intentó resistirse, después de un forcejeo, el agresor logró hacer que se subiera a otro vehículo.

Tres días después, el 20 de febrero, un hombre que paseaba por una zona boscosa cercana al lago Benbrook encontró el cuerpo de Carla. La autopsia determinó que había sido víctima de un abuso sexual y que luego fue estrangulada hasta la muerte.

Los enigmas sin resolver

Desde el principio, los investigadores contaron con algunos elementos importantes. Rodney había visto al secuestrador durante el ataque y pudo dar una descripción física detallada. Además, se recuperaron evidencias biológicas que, con el paso de los años, resultarían fundamentales.

El problema era que en la década de 1970 la tecnología forense estaba muy lejos de los avances actuales. Muchas de las pruebas que habían sido halladas en la escena no podían analizarse de manera efectiva.

Con el paso del tiempo aparecieron sospechosos, se realizaron entrevistas y se siguieron múltiples líneas de investigación, pero ninguna logró reunir evidencia suficiente para llevar adelante una imputación.

Uno de los grandes interrogantes era si el atacante había elegido a Carla específicamente o si se había tratado de una víctima al azar. A pesar de ello, los agentes nunca pudieron determinar con certeza si existía algún vínculo previo entre ambos.

Durante años, el expediente pareció destinado a permanecer archivado para siempre.

La prueba científica que cambió todo

Todo cambió 46 años después, cuando en 2020, a partir de nuevas técnicas de análisis de ADN, los investigadores lograron obtener un perfil genético a partir de las evidencias biológicas conservadas desde 1974.

La policía recurrió entonces a una herramienta relativamente nueva: la genealogía genética. El método consiste en comparar perfiles de ADN con bases de datos para identificar posibles familiares del sospechoso y reconstruir árboles familiares.

Después de meses de trabajo, los investigadores llegaron a un nombre: Glen Samuel McCurley. Cuando comenzaron a revisar su historia, descubrieron que en 1974 tenía 31 años y vivía en la zona donde ocurrió el secuestro.

Un grupo de policías fue a la casa del hombre para interrogarlo. Allí, él se encontraba con su esposa y contó la misma historia que en 1974, cuando fue indagado: dijo que no conocía a Carla Walker y que nunca había asesinado a nadie.

En 2020, los investigadores obtuvieron de manera encubierta una muestra de ADN de McCurley y la compararon con las pruebas conservadas desde la escena del crimen. Los resultados dieron positivo.

Leé también: Desapareció hace 33 años: una confesión y el hallazgo de huesos en una casa familiar reabrieron el caso

El juicio y la condena

Glen Samuel McCurley fue detenido el 21 de septiembre de 2020, cuando tenía 77 años. La noticia generó una enorme repercusión porque parecía imposible que el caso pudiera resolverse después de tanto tiempo.

Frente a la contundente evidencia acumulada por los investigadores, McCurley confesó el crimen y decidió declararse culpable.

En 2021 fue condenado a cadena perpetua por el secuestro y asesinato de Carla Walker. La sentencia puso fin a una de las investigaciones más extensas y complejas de la historia criminal de Texas.

Having crushed Iran’s nuclear capabilities during two wars in joint attacks with the Israelis, the latest and most significant chapter of whether there will be peace is whether the regime will allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to its nuclear weapons facilities.

Conflicting statements and reports from President Trump and Iran’s Foreign Ministry suggest the U.N.’s IAEA will face the same recalcitrant policy from Tehran it has experienced for two decades in blocking its inspectors from conducting robust verification of the clerical regime’s vast nuclear facilities, including underground compounds. The IAEA sticking point might be a deal-breaker for President Trump.

David Albright, who is widely viewed as one of the world’s leading experts on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, told Fox News Digital the «IAEA comes up short» in its efforts to secure information and verification about Iran’s nuclear weapons program because «Iran has not cooperated for twenty years.»

THE RACE AGAINST TIME TO DESTROY IRAN’S ILLICIT NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM HEATS UP AMID FRESH STRIKES

Albright, a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security said, «Iran loves to generate plans of action that can be extended» and the process becomes a «pointless exercise.»

For Iran experts like Albright, Iran’s skill in the art of procrastination has allowed it to stretch out talks over the decades while working to advance its work on a nuclear weapons device and a missile system to deliver it.

As a result, Albright said «it colors my view of the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]» agreed to between the U.S. and Iran that codifies IAEA inspections of Iran’s atomic weapons program.

Albright sees the IAEA as a key test for the success of U.S.-Iran talks. «The way Iran treats the IAEA will tell us if the negotiations are meaningful,» adding that Tehran’s regime has treated the IAEA terribly in the past.

OBAMA-ERA INSPECTION FLAWS IN IRAN COULD PERSIST AS EXPERTS WARN OF NUCLEAR BLIND SPOTS

President Donald Trump (C) gestures as he addresses the media alongside United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (L), U.S. Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick (2L), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2R) and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (R) during a closing press conference at the G7 summit, in Evian, eastern France. (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

The website of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared in a statement that «Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, speaking to reporters, denied reports published by certain media outlets claiming that the Islamic Republic of Iran has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear facilities.»

A headline in the Islamic Republic News Agency Wednesday stated, «No plan for access to Iran’s attacked nuclear facilities without final deal, says deputy FM.» The regime-controlled outlet noted that Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on his X account that no meeting was held with Grossi in Switzerland, despite the IAEA head requesting that Iran meet with him. «There is no plan for access to the facilities that were attacked or to the nuclear materials,» Gharibabadi wrote.

On Friday in Japan, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi told reporters, «This agreement expressly indicates that the nuclear part will be supervised, monitored, by the IAEA.» He added that «a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was subscribed by the two presidents, by President Donald Trump and President Pezeshkian from Iran, and this agreement expressly indicates that the nuclear part will be supervised, monitored, by the IAEA.» 

He noted that «initial conversations» have started about inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites. «We hope to be there soon,» he said. It is unclear if Grossi’s team will examine all Iranian nuclear weapons facilities and suspected nuclear sites.

The IAEA declined to answer a detailed Fox News Digital press query on why previous IAEA oversight efforts failed; what would be different this time; whether inspectors can access meaningful sites or only symbolic locations; and would the IAEA focus on access to the Pickaxe Mountain facility versus sites already damaged or buried.

IRAN EXPANDS WEAPONIZATION CAPABILITIES CRITICAL FOR EMPLOYING NUCLEAR BOMB

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi meets with Iran’s then Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran, Iran, on May 6, 2024. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA)

Albright said Israel’s government has identified ten or more sites where Iran is suspected of being involved in nuclear weapons. The IAEA spokesman declined to comment on whether their inspectors will demand to visit those sites.

Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital that «Iran should be made to come clean and allow inspections not only at declared nuclear sites — especially the ones damaged during Operation Midnight Hammer — but also at universities, military bases and other state organizations that have been used to engage in dual-use research which is applicable to the development of a nuclear weapon should there be a leadership decision to do so. Inspections on Iran’s nuclear weaponization program were not part of the original 2015 JCPOA, which was one of its weaknesses.»

The JCPOA, whose formal name is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was negotiated by former President Obama’s administration in 2015. Albright, a sharp critic of the JCPOA, said the Obama deal accepted that Iran did not cooperate and «swept it under the rug.»  Albright warned that «It is really important that the U.S. [Trump administration] not do a JCPOA.»

TRUMP’S NEW IRAN DEAL FACES NUCLEAR BLIND SPOT OVER URANIUM STOCKPILE, EXPERTS WARN

Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. He said at the time the JCPOA was a «horrible one-sided deal that should never ever have been made.»

Brodsky stressed that «Any new agreement should include more robust inspection powers. Iran’s denial of inspections at the damaged nuclear facilities since June 2025 violates its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.»

When asked about the IAEA’s impotence with respect to intrusive sanctions on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a White House spokeswoman referred Fox News Digital to Vice President JD Vance and Grossi’s comments.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict at the Lake Lucerne Summit, near Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 22, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

«The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country. That is a major milestone for the American people, and the first step in permanently denuclearize, easing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran,» Vance said on Monday. He added, «And that’s exactly what we wanted to do. That’s exactly what we asked to happen.»

President Trump wrote on Truth Social: «Despite their protestations and false statements to the contrary, coupled with the drumbeat of the Fake News, which is doing everything possible to make the U.S. Victory as small and insignificant as possible, Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!). This will insure ‘Nuclear Honesty.’ If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations! «

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The Islamic Republic’s spokesman to the U.N. did not respond to a Fox News Digital press query.

The U.S. State Department declined to comment.