Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has unveiled a remarkably convenient explanation for the Democratic Party’s radical post-2020 rhetoric: That was “Woke 1,” and apparently everybody got a little carried away.
AOC on Francesca Hong’s old tweets calling for abolishing prisons and the police:
“Woke 1 was crazy.” pic.twitter.com/OuqYhSwtbk
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 9, 2026
During Sunday’s appearance on ABC’s This Week, host Jonathan Karl questioned the New York democratic socialist about Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, whose past statements included supporting police abolition and calling for Thanksgiving to be canceled.
“I have a local city councilman that has this saying, ‘Woke 1 was crazy,’” Ocasio-Cortez said with a laugh. “What’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.”
Hong, currently leading the Democratic field ahead of Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary, has been attempting to put distance between herself and her earlier positions. Asked recently whether police “exist to uphold white supremacy,” as she once claimed, Hong answered, “No.” She also insisted, “I will not abolish the police,” while promising law enforcement “the resources and the training that they need.”
Karl reminded Ocasio-Cortez that she, too, had supported defunding police. She responded that the COVID shutdowns had opened the door to “any and every policy” that might produce a “better place.”
“During lockdown, of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today,” she said.
Karl technically raised the contradiction, but his gushing, remarkably accommodating interview made it easy for AOC to perform her usual Jedi mind trick: These are not the radical positions you remember. There was little sustained pressure to explain her own support for defunding police. Instead, she was allowed to speak as a detached observer of “Woke 1,” as though she had merely watched the madness from a safe distance instead of helping lead it.
That sounds less like a repudiation than a rebranding. Ocasio-Cortez maintained that the conversations from that period were “quite fruitful,” even as candidates now scramble to assure voters they never really meant the slogans quite the way everybody heard them.
She also sought some organizational distance, explaining that she belongs to the New York City DSA chapter rather than its national organization and does not accept every national position.
There is a reason Karl raised the distinction. The DSA’s current national program calls for redirecting police funding as a step toward “fully abolishing the police and prison system.” Its Abolition Working Group advocates cutting police budgets annually “towards zero.”
Ocasio-Cortez stopped short of endorsing Hong, telling Karl that her present focus is winning control of Congress. Bernie Sanders has also declined to back Hong, saying he was unfamiliar with the Wisconsin contest despite having previously met her.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Fox News: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shrugs off past ‘defund the police’ comments, joking ‘Woke 1 was crazy’
- New York Post: AOC pushes voters to assess what Francesca Hong is saying now, gloss over her past
- ABC News: This Week transcript—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez discusses Francesca Hong and ‘Woke 1’
- Fox News: Socialist Francesca Hong reverses position on abolishing police, says she is ‘serious about public safety’
- Democratic Socialists of America: DSA national program calls for fully abolishing the police and prison system
