Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday waded into the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor, characterizing past progressive positions held by candidate Francesca Hong as “crazy” while urging voters to focus on her current platform.
In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” host Jonathan Karl pressed Ocasio-Cortez on Hong’s previous remarks, including a call to “cancel Thanksgiving.” The New York Democrat, who has not endorsed in the race, said Hong has “moved away from it.”
“And I have a local city councilman that has this saying that ‘Woke 1 was crazy,’” Ocasio-Cortez said, prompting laughter from Karl. “And I think that what’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.”
The quip referenced New York City Council member Chi Ossé, a progressive ally who later posted on X: “Woke 1 was crazyyyy, Madame President.”
Karl also revisited Ocasio-Cortez’s own past support for defunding the police, asking whether the movement had gone “too far.” Ocasio-Cortez defended the era, saying the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdowns “opened the Overton window” to consider a wide range of policies.
“We were shut down. There was some of the highest unemployment rates that we have seen because of those shutdowns,” she said. “And I think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place.”
She called those discussions “quite fruitful” but acknowledged that “during lockdown, of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today.”
Hong, a state representative and chef, has since walked back her earlier calls to abolish prisons and defund the police, as well as her 2021 social media post describing Thanksgiving as a “superspreader event” tied to the deaths of Indigenous peoples. She now calls Thanksgiving her “favorite” holiday and emphasizes her culinary background as a unifier.
Ocasio-Cortez said her own priority remains “winning back the Congress, winning back the House and positioning ourselves to have the best chance possible to win the Senate.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a key ally, has also declined to endorse Hong, citing similar reasons.
The exchange comes as Ocasio-Cortez continues to be a central figure in Democratic politics, with recent polls showing her leading the 2028 field in New Hampshire. Her comments underscore the party’s internal debate over how to handle candidates with more radical pasts as it seeks to broaden its appeal.
