AOC's 'Woke 1' Remark Sparks Backlash Over 2020 Retreat

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew criticism after dismissing the 2020 social justice movement as "Woke 1 was crazyyyyy" during an August 9 appearance on ABC's This Week, walking back her past support for "defund the police" and prison abolition.

Asked by co-host Jonathan Karl about 2020-era demands to abolish prisons and police, Ocasio-Cortez said, "We all share the goals of having as low a crime rate as possible [but] rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today." In 2020, she had argued that an "abolitionist America" would resemble affluent suburbs that already fund youth services, health and housing over policing.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani echoed a similar sentiment days later, saying, "Sometimes, what you believe can change and develop."

The term "Woke 1" was coined by New York City Council member Chi Ossé after he was confronted in May with a 2021 tweet declaring "a cis white man should not be the next speaker of the council."

According to the opinion piece, the backlash to Ocasio-Cortez's comments was widespread among leftists who viewed her remarks as an attempt to appease the Democratic establishment. Others agreed that the 2020 movement was marked by rigid rhetoric, much of it on social media.

The essay traces "woke" to Black American communities, popularized by a 2008 Erykah Badu lyric, before the term was co-opted by conservatives including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who introduced the "Stop Woke Act" in 2022, and former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who warned against corporations becoming a "woke parallel government."

The writer contends that Democrats using the same dismissive framing undermines a movement against police killings of Black people, especially as Black history curricula and diversity programs face rollbacks nationally. Ocasio-Cortez, first elected in 2018, has also endorsed Joe Biden's 2024 campaign despite prior progressive positioning, while continuing to support abolishing ICE.