Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) raised eyebrows on Monday, August 10th, 2026, after criticizing the "woke" policies she once supported. Pressed about Democratic candidate Francesca Hong, who is running for Wisconsin governor and has previously tweeted calls to abolish prisons and the police, Ocasio-Cortez laughed off Hong's past remarks, saying, "Woke 1 was crazy!"

"I have a local city councilman that has this saying, 'Woke 1 was crazy!' And I think what's important is that we have to assess what are candidates saying now," Ocasio-Cortez stated.

Despite her distancing, Ocasio-Cortez herself defended and promoted similar views six years ago. Hong had declared that "police exist to uphold white supremacy" and argued that "reform can't be an option," repeatedly advocating defunding the police as a step toward abolition.

Ocasio-Cortez attributed the rise of wokeness to the COVID-19 lockdowns, calling the 2020 political climate and discussions "fruitful." She said, "During this time, and especially during COVID, there was a huge opening of the Overton window. We were shut down."

She added, "I actually think that the discussions that were had during that time were quite fruitful. I think that when we talk about crime today, it's fundamentally different than the way we talked about crime and bringing down crime."

In a 2021 post on X, Ocasio-Cortez warned, "Making up a 'woke' problem results in putting civil & voting rights on the backburner. In a year state legislatures are planning out GOP majorities & voter suppression, that's dangerous."

Sources