WASHINGTON — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. told ABC's "This Week" that a wave of far-left rhetoric that peaked around 2019 and 2020 was "crazy" — a candid break from positions she once championed and a signal of how sharply the party is trying to reposition itself ahead of 2026.
Ocasio-Cortez, who previously supported defunding the police, said the rhetoric from that era is "not rhetoric that we would use today." She attributed the shift in part to the Covid pandemic, which she said expanded what was considered acceptable political discourse. She was quoting New York City Council Member Chi Ossé, who wrote in May that "Woke 1 was crazyyyy" in reference to a comment he made in 2021, and she laughed as she delivered the line.
Other Democrats are moving in the same direction. Former Biden White House aide Yemisi Egbewole praised Texas Senate candidate James Talarico for distancing himself from earlier positions, saying, "Peak woke got weird. It's okay to say that."
The pressure is most acute in Wisconsin, where Francesca Hong — considered a frontrunner in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary — faces scrutiny for past statements in which she advocated abolishing police and canceling Thanksgiving. Hong told Politico, "I had some hot takes, some bad takes on Twitter, but when you're a business owner running a restaurant during Covid, trying to pay bills as a student, you're putting feelings out there into the world." She said she has "evolved" and "learned."
Republican former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, appearing on "This Week" immediately after Ocasio-Cortez, was blunt. "After listening to the congresswoman, why should anyone trust her?" Christie said. He promised Republicans would hold Ocasio-Cortez, Hong and others "to what they've said over their careers, not what they're trying to conveniently evolve into now."
Christie's own record includes similar reversals. He ran against Donald Trump in 2016, later embraced him and then turned against him — and has acknowledged making comments about Trump for political expediency.
Not everyone views the 2020-era left as something to apologize for. The New Republic argued that "Woke 1.0 Did a Lot of Good Things for This Country," offering a direct counterpoint to Ocasio-Cortez's framing.
Republicans running in 2026 are expected to use Democratic candidates' past statements against them. Tuesday's Wisconsin primary will offer an early read on how voters receive those explanations.
