Stunning downfall of ‘liberal wunderkind’ who was once a rising political star… only to end up singing ‘Death to America’ in Tehran

A young woman once seen as a rising star of the left became so radicalized that she now lives in the Middle East and regularly appears in the media chanting “Death to America.”

Calla Walsh, now 21, rose to fame in 2020 at just 16 years old for her role in Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey’s re-election campaign, the Boston Globe reported.

Unable to vote for herself, Walsh became the leader of a Gen-Z activist group called the Markeyverse, which helped the LP defeat former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III.

She has been praised by the New York Times and NPR for her successful social media tactics.

“Walsh tends to downplay her moves, describing them as ‘Markey teens’ and ‘theatre kids,’” the New York Times wrote in 2021.

“But the Markeyverse pulled off a devastating political maneuver, firmly cementing the idea of ​​Senator Markey as a left-wing icon.”

Six years later, Walsh has fallen down a rabbit hole of radicalization. He now lives in Beirut and works as an anti-American, pro-Palestinian activist.

On July 20, 2025, Walsh was seen on Iranian media chanting “Death to America” ​​and “Death to Israel” at a memorial event in Tehran.

Calla Walsh, now 21, rose to fame in 2020 at the age of 16 for her role in Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey’s re-election campaign

Six years later, Walsh has fallen down a rabbit hole of radicalization. He now lives in Beirut and works as an anti-American, pro-Palestinian activist.

She thanked Iran for hosting the event and called on attendees to share the “struggle against Zionism and imperialism.”

In March, Walsh appeared to celebrate the deaths of four American soldiers killed in the war with Iran.

“They all died fighting fascism, genocide, pedophilia and cannibalism,” she wrote on X.

When it was reported that American and Israeli forces had killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Walsh called him the “leader of the free world.”

‘Rest in peace to the leader of the free world. His blood has watered the seeds of universal liberation,” she wrote on X.

“May a global uprising avenge him, complete the great flood, and never abandon the path of resistance against the Great Satan.”

In 2024, she was sentenced to 60 days in prison after being arrested while protesting at Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private defense contractor, in New Hampshire. She was released after serving only a month in prison.

The Free Press reported in March that she has since moved to Beirut and is on a U.S. government watch list.

On July 20, 2025, Walsh was seen on Iranian media chanting “Death to America” ​​and “Death to Israel” at a memorial event in Tehran.

In 2024, she was sentenced to 60 days in prison after being arrested while protesting at Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private defense contractor, in New Hampshire.

She appears to have moved to Beirut and is reportedly on a US watchlist for her radical messages

The Daily Mail contacted Walsh, her father, Chris Walsh and Markey’s office for comment.

Her parents declined to comment to the Boston Globe, but sent a statement distancing themselves from her political beliefs.

“Although we have some differences, we respect and love Calla very much and, like her, we want the attention of the press and the public not to be focused on her, but on the ultimate cause for which she risked so much: ending war and oppression for all people,” her parents said.

Joe Caiazzo, a top adviser to Kennedy and Markey’s 2020 opponent, told the newspaper that Walsh’s apparent radicalization is the result of him giving her too much power as a young teenager.

“The press decided that a 16-year-old boy would dictate the terms of entry into a U.S. Senate race, and now they’re chanting ‘Death to America,'” Caiazzo said.