AOC, Bernie Sanders Snub Francesca Hong
AOC’s ‘Woke 1’ remark fueled questions over withheld endorsements for Francesca Hong.
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Analysis & opinion
The reporting
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders did not endorse Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, leaving a prominent socialist candidate without backing from two national progressive figures. On ABC News’s “This Week” Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez was asked about Hong and said candidates should be judged by what they say now, calling some late-2010s progressive “Woke 1.0” rhetoric “crazy.” Hong, asked why Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders had not endorsed her, said she respected both but did not answer directly. The remarks drew criticism from progressive commentators who argued Democrats cannot dismiss earlier positions as outdated.
Analysis & opinion
AOC RebrandingBalanced
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is trying to escape or soften her association with earlier progressive and “woke” politics now that they are politically costly. She cannot credibly treat those excesses as separate from her own record, especially if she is positioning herself for higher office.
Hong ToxicityLeans Right
Francesca Hong and similar candidates make democratic socialism and the broader Democratic Party more vulnerable because their past rhetoric and cultural politics look extreme to many voters. Her rise exposes progressive divisions, gives Republicans an easy target, and suggests that woke politics is becoming more radical rather than more electable.
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