A trio of progressive Democrats backed by members of «The Squad» suffered blistering rebukes on Tuesday as Illinois voters rejected them in favor of more moderate candidates, prompting questions from onlookers about whether the party’s core, and momentum, should be entrusted to the far-left wing of its base.

To James Carville, a longtime Democratic strategist, the answer has been «no» for a long time. Talking to Fox News Digital in response to several progressive candidates losing in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in deep blue Illinois, he questioned the narrative that Squad-aligned progressives are gaining momentum.

«What momentum? About 15% of the Democratic Party identifies themselves as progressive. And what’s unique, they win about 15% in the primaries at most,» Carville said. «This was something I’ve dealt with all my life.»

«In New York, [Zohran] Mamdami got 50.5% — which is not overwhelming. That’s hardly the basis for some national movement,» Carville said, referring to the socialist mayor of New York City.

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The progressive losses all came despite high-profile support from some of the most progressive figures in Congress.

Kat Abughazaleh, the 26-year-old Palestinian American running on an anti-establishment platform and promises to implement a «wealth tax,» attracted support from the likes of Rep. Rashida Talib, D-Mich., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, but lost on Tuesday.

Defeated technology entrepreneur Junaid Ahmed told voters he would push for the self-determination of Gaza and implement healthcare for all, earning the support of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

And Robert Peters, a state senator who raised $1.1 million on his track record of helping to end cash bail and raising the minimum wage at the state level, garnered backing from Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt, and Warren, but lost his bid for Congress to Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller.

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Between them, they raised $5.7 million.

Anthony Driver Jr., widely regarded as a progressive candidate in Illinois’ 7th District Democratic primary, lost to the more moderate, establishment-aligned Democrat, La Shawn Ford.

Driver was endorsed by Jayapal and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. 

Liam Kerr, co-founder of the Welcome PAC, a group that supports moderate Democrats, believes their losses should give the party a clear takeaway.

«Illinois is just the latest reminder that the noise machine around far-left candidates rarely translates into actual votes,» Kerr said.

«There’s a real hunger in this party to win, and the candidates who keep losing are the ones more focused on ideological performance than tried and true economic concerns. The blueprint is simple: ditch the clout-chasing ideologues and invest in hard-working candidates who know their communities.»

Kerr’s framing was echoed by Jim Kessler, vice president of policy at Third Way, a Democrat think tank focused on moderate platforms.

«Illinois delivered a cold shower to the progressive fringe in the Democratic Party. Every winner was a mainstream Democrat. A lesson Democrats always have to relearn is that mainstream beats extreme,» Kessler said.

But to other onlookers, the results aren’t so definitive. Even as figures like Carville argue far-left policies aren’t a recipe for national success, others see the Illinois losses as far less decisive for progressives than critics suggest.

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, center, speaks in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Michael Ceraso, a veteran of the 2016 Sanders presidential campaign, pointed out that some of Tuesday’s winners can’t be swept neatly into the «moderate» camp. He doesn’t believe progressives really even lost the night at all.

«Daniel Biss is a progressive. The dude pushed climate and building regulations in Evanston,» Ceraso said, referring to the winner for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District — the candidate that beat out Abughazaleh.

Ceraso also noted that several candidates backed by Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker won out.

«The Illinois governor is a progressive. He backed [Juliana] Stratton,» Ceraso said, referring to the lieutenant governor and Senate candidate who won the Democratic nomination in a high-profile, competitive, contentious, and expensive primary showdown.

«[They] increased the minimum wage, ended the sub-minimum wage for disabled people and protected reproductive care. That’s what progress means: moving toward a goal that lifts others, not protecting the status quo.»

Still, other voices, like that of Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, noted that outside groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) had focused their attention on defeating the most progressive voices in the election. 

«The real debate inside the Democratic Party is not whether progressive economic policies appeal to voters,» Green argued.

«It is whether candidates who genuinely believe in those ideas can compete against industries willing to spend millions to co-opt that message in support of candidates who will never actually challenge power,» Green said.

Having now cleared the primaries, Illinois will hold its general elections on Nov. 3.

Ukraine peace talks are on a «situational pause» as the Middle East conflict intensifies, the Kremlin said Thursday, even as Kyiv signaled negotiations could resume as soon as this weekend.

Following reports in Russian media that the Kremlin had paused talks on Ukraine and that the Middle East conflict could push Kyiv toward compromise, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the pause.

«This is a situational pause, for obvious reasons,» Peskov told reporters when asked about the report, according to Reuters.

Peskov added that as soon as «our American partners» could refocus on the Ukraine conflict, Moscow hopes the pause will end and new talks can begin, the outlet reported.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video posted on X that Kyiv has received signals from the U.S. that it is ready to resume talks aimed at ending the war.

«There has been a pause in the talks, and it is time to resume them,» he said. «We are doing everything to ensure that the negotiations are genuinely substantive.»

Zelenskyy added that a Ukrainian negotiating team is already on its way to the U.S. and is expected to hold meetings Saturday.

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO DISCUSS TERRITORY AS TRUMP SAYS BOTH SIDES ‘WANT TO MAKE A DEAL’

Firefighters put out the fire in the ruins of an apartment building following Russia’s missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said the «hatred» between Russia and Ukraine was getting in the way of reaching a peace deal.

Speaking at the Shield of the Americas Summit in Doral, Florida, Trump said the «hatred between Putin and his counterpart is so great.»

«It’s so great that, you know, Ukraine, Russia, you’d think there would be a little bit of camaraderie, [but] there’s not. And the hatred is so great. It’s very hard for them to get there. It’s very, very hard to get there. So we’ll see what happens,» Trump said. «But we’ve been close a lot of times and one or the other would back out.»

UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY: RUSSIA TRYING ‘TO PLAY’ GAME WITH TRUMP, STALL PEACE TALKS

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands at a news conference following a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on December 28, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump’s comments came after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in January that Russia was losing between 20,000 and 25,000 troops each month in its war against Ukraine.

The pause in talks comes as Ukraine is increasingly being drawn into the wider Middle East conflict.

With the conflict in Iran now in its third week, Ukraine is providing technology and battlefield-tested tactics to counter Iranian drone attacks.

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U.S. and Gulf partners have requested Ukrainian assistance, with Kyiv signaling it is prepared to share both systems and personnel to help defend against Iranian aerial threats.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report, along with Reuters.