Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is drawing criticism after comments on ABC’s “This Week” that critics say show the New York Democrat distancing herself from some controversial positions associated with the Democratic Party over the past decade, including defunding the police.

During the interview, Ocasio-Cortez quoted a New York City Council member as saying, “Woke 1 was crazy,” before laughing along with host Jonathan Karl. She went on to say the pandemic created space for broader policy discussions.

“I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She added that the rhetoric used during the pandemic is not the rhetoric being used today.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller criticized the remarks, calling them callous. Miller said the result of the defund-the-police movement was a rise in shootings, deaths and other violent crime.

“We’re all going to have a good laugh about that? Sorry your husband was murdered. Sorry your mom was killed. Sorry your loved ones are sickened under the ground now,” Miller said. “We’re gonna have a good laugh about that? It’s sickening, it’s disgusting, and the thing is it never stopped.”

Former Maryland state Sen. Bobby Zirkin also criticized Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, calling them disingenuous.

“She’s not a bystander, she is and was a big part of these ideas,” Zirkin said.

Zirkin pointed to her support for democratic socialist and other progressive candidates, including New York’s Zohran Mamdani and Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed. Both men have supported defunding the police in the past but have since walked back their comments.

The issue of defunding the police, along with other so-called “woke” ideas such as abolishing the Senate, became a central focus for Francesca Hong in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race. Hong, a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, narrowly lost the Democratic primary to the more moderate David Crowley. She spent much of the end of her campaign explaining and walking back past comments, which some political analysts said contributed to her loss.

Zirkin said Wisconsin’s open primary system likely played a role as well. An open primary generally allows voters who are not registered with a political party to participate in that party’s primary, such as an independent voting in a Democratic primary.

Zirkin argued closed primaries could be contributing to the success of Democratic socialist and other progressive candidates this election cycle because a small fraction of voters participate in primary elections overall, and those who do tend to be on the ideological edges of either party. He said he does not believe the democratic socialist agenda will perform as well in a general election.

Zirkin is among those speculating that Ocasio-Cortez is eyeing a 2028 presidential run and seeking to appeal to a broader electorate. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll shows 75% of Democrats say they would be open to supporting a democratic socialist for president, while less than half of all Americans say the same.