New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is hustling to win over left-wing critics who say the progressive leader cares too much about mainstream approval and is too cozy with senior Democrats.
Between the lines: If Ocasio-Cortez's diplomacy is successful, it could be more difficult for any potential 2028 presidential candidate to run to her left — but moderate Democrats argue it also could make it tougher for her to win a general election.
Despite her recent efforts, some loud voices on the left — including people who have worked closely with her — have gotten under her skin by continuing to question her progressive bona fides.
Zoom in: In recent weeks, Ocasio-Cortez has tried to repair her relationship with Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Many members of the group opposed her support for giving Israel defensive weapons, including the Iron Dome missile system, during the war in Gaza — which she has called a "genocide."
In July 2024, national DSA leaders withdrew their endorsement of her for the elections that year, arguing that she'd conflated "anti-Zionism with antisemitism and condemned boycotting Zionist institutions," which the group considered a "deep betrayal."
The intrigue: AOC also has had a fraught relationship with some progressives who helped launch her political career.
Her first chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, co-founded Justice Democrats, a group that helped Ocasio-Cortez with her insurgent House campaign in 2018. Chakrabarti is running for Congress in former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district in San Francisco, but Ocasio-Cortez pointedly hasn't endorsed him in the June 2 primary.
She's indicated she believes that some of her early allies on the left have taken too much credit for her upset House victory eight years ago, and she's distanced herself from them over the years, people familiar with the dynamic told Axios.
Funny how he didn't need congress when he wanted to sell weapons for genocide.
He didn't need congress to reschedule cannabis. He just chose not to. He didn't even pursue revisiting the public option. Didn't even mention it while in office.
Oh man. You just buy every excuse as long as you get what you want. Which is genocide and nothing the fuck else.
It's neat how conveniently selective his power to just do stuff also lines up with the only things centrists want: blocking progressive legislation and selling weapons for genocide.
He didn't need Congress to send aid to Israel, because Congress already passed the laws that allowed him to do it. It's hardly "bypassing Congress" when they're the ones that gave him the authority to expedite military aid to US allies. He also used it many times to send aid to Ukraine.
That's not true either. There is a process for rescheduling drugs, and it goes through both the DoJ and the DEA. He did start the process, but they weren't exactly rushing things. But technically, it isn't up to the president to make that decision. It's up to the agencies that enforce those laws.
That's true. But again, that would also take an act of Congress to get done...and there are nowhere near enough votes to make it happen. Not one Republican would ever agree to it, and not even half of Democrats have signalled approval. It's a "dead-on-arrival" proposal.
Are you speaking to me, personally? Because that's pretty offensive, if you are. Just because I know how legislation gets passed and you don't, doesn't mean I support genocide. That's just ridiculous.
Again, if you think Biden was just being "conveniently selective" about what he could and could not do, as president...then you do not actually understand how US law works. If you want to get any of those things done, then you need a majority of votes in both the House and Senate. The president simply provides leadership and direction...but it's up to Congress to pass legislation in order to make those changes.
Or, you could just try actually bypassing Congress like what Donald Trump keeps doing, and get shot down in the court over every little action you try and take, all while opening yourself up to potential criminal charges for violating the law in the process.
Are you saying that Trump is right for doing things the way he's doing them? I mean, if you care more about results, than following the law...then you're no different than the average Trump supporter. They don't care about any of that shit, either.
Along with a law that prohibited the sale of weapons for genocide, which Biden ignored. When Biden sold weapons for genocide, he lost the benefit of the doubt.
Neither was he. He started it late on purpose so they wouldn't be done by the end of his first term. And it sure is neat how the head of the executive branch has to ask every federal employee before he does anything. Or until he gets the no he wants.
If it was that hopeless, he shouldn't have promised it in the first place. It was a lie when he said it.
You're carrying water for a genocidal president. You're making excuses for his successfully broken campaign promises and his lawbreaking for netanyahu.
I know he could sell weapons for genocide. I know he broke the law to do it. I know that smaller obstacles stopped him when it was his campaign promises.
Because they're not genocide, so Biden didn't want to do any of them.
Biden ran on being able to work with congress to accomplish his promises. He worked with congress to make sure they didn't pass.
I do not accept any excuses offered on his behalf. Like I said up top, when he supported genocide, he lost the benefit of the doubt. And gained you as a supporter.
Ok. I think this statement accurately outlines the extent of your misunderstanding. I'm not "carrying water for a genocidal president". I'm trying to explain to you how the Constitution works, because you seem to be one of those people who thinks the president has, or should have, unlimited power to just wave a magic wand around, and spontaneously create whole Federal programs or agencies instantly and without Congressional oversight.
As for his actions with Israel...I do not agree with any of his decisions there. I do however, still understand that in order to do anything about it...Congress would need to change the laws. That's how it works. If Congress has given the president the power to do something, and you don't like what they're doing with that power...Congress needs to change things. The same thing goes for what the president can't do.
This entire premise...that the president simultaneously has too much power for the things you don't want, while also not having enough power to do all the things you do want, is utterly ridiculous. It shows that you do not even understand the fundamental problem with your own worldview.
The same thing that will fix the "Israel problem" will also make it harder to fix everything else you think the president should have the unilateral authority to do. Congress needs to restrict the president's authority to do things without their approval...right? That's exactly what stops any president from fulfilling all their campaign promises.
You are blaming the wrong person. The president shouldn't have that much power. That's why things are the way they are. If you want someone to blame for ALL of this...blame Congress. They are the ones who are actually responsible for everything you're complaining about. And if you want things to change...stop focusing on what the president is doing or not doing...and start voting in the midterm elections instead. You need to flip Congress if you want anything to change. The president should never have the power to do what you're asking for.
He ignored the law to sell weapons for genocide, but was unwilling to do so to help US citizens. And it comes down to what he wanted to do.
And so is Trump, right now. And so will the next guy.
Nothing is going to change unless we address the source of the problem, instead of just complaining about the symptoms.
Nothing is going to change if everyone pretends that the symptoms go away when a democrat is in office.
Oh. So, you really didn't understand anything I said, huh?
I'm not buying that the president is only useless when he's not selling weapons to your favorite person for your favorite activity.
Yeah. You really don't understand what I've been saying. Whatever, buddy. Stay ignorant. I don't care.
And since it's not pro-genocide, you've been ignoring what I've been saying. Biden broke the law when it suited him. It only suited him to sell weapons for genocide.
Which is why you're carrying water for him and acting like anyone who isn't head over heels ecstatic about how BIDEN. BROKE. THE. LAW. TO. SUPPORT. GENOCIDE. never watched Schoolhouse Rock as a kid, as though that has any bearing on what biden considered enough of a priority to break the law over, versus what he was willing to be bound by the law over.
That wasn't even what we were talking about. You just keep making it about that, because you have no idea what you're actually arguing about.
I have repeatedly told you that I am not a Biden supporter and don't agree with his policies on Israel...at all. You just keep ignoring that, and continue to accuse me of holding positions that I don't. That is the definition of a strawman argument, and it shows a lack of intellectual integrity on your part.
What I am telling you...that you also don't seem capable of understanding...is that if you want any of that to get dealt with, you will need to address Congress. Not the president. Even if you want Biden to be held accountable for his actions over Israel...you need Congress to do that. Everything you are complaining about is Congress's job to fix.
Me saying that, over and over again, is NOT "carrying water for Biden". It is not being "head over heels for Biden". That is the stupidest, most lazy take you could possibly have. You aren't even trying to use your brain. You're just saying shit that you think sounds principled, but really just comes off as hopelessly ignorant.
If you would like to talk about the successes of Democrats in Congress in working with biden to block his campaign promises, we can. If you would like to talk about how many times they approved weapons for genocide, we can do that too. But in the context of biden, the fact remains that biden broke the law for netanyahu and not for the American people. That shows where his greatest priority lies.
He was perfectly happy to accept the limitations imposed by HoW gOvErNmEnT wOrKs when he chose to not fire the parliamentarian so that the poor could have higher wages. He was happy to accept limitations when he decided to wait out the clock before starting the process to reschedule cannabis. He was endlessly diplomatic with Manchin while he killed Build Back Better. But he spent a year and three months breaking the law openly and brazenly to sell weapons to netanyahu, as it became more and more undeniable to everyone that this was a genocide. And there's no way biden didn't know from the very beginning.
He broke the law for netanyahu. For genocide. But not for workers. Not for Americans. That's who he is. That's all he is. That's all he's ever been, that's the culmination of his entire career.
If you want to talk about accountability and congress' unwillingness to do so for trump, let alone biden, we can have that conversation. But I will NEVER accept Congress as an excuse for biden's behavior, partly because he ignored congress to accomplish his only goal in life, but also because there is no excusing his behavior.
Now tell me I don't know how anything works again. Gaslighting never gets old.
JFC. I would love it if you would please, just look up some of the things you think are true before you make everyone else reading this stupider, in the process. You are just so confidently incorrect about your entire worldview. smh.
You ignored my entire comment and posted abuse.
And I'm starting to think you're just a troll. You've ignored all of my comments and insulted me repeatedly. My patience with you is done.
Admit that biden supports genocide or you're a pro-genocide liar. And nothing else ever.
Buddy, I already have. And I told you I'm not a fucking Biden supporter. What the fuck is wrong with you?
Depression. A firm conviction that everything is fucked. A complete unwillingness to tolerate any excuse for the behavior of the genocidal assholes who got us here.
An abiding sense of loss for the world that could have been if we had a party in this country that was willing to even pretend to attempt to make anything better.
Yeah, well...those genocidal assholes are literally the same people feeding you the talking points you seem so stuck on. Are you even aware that Steve Bannon is the guy that came up with the narrative that Liberals were actually worse than fascists? They literally paid influencers on the left to convince people of this, in order to divided any opposition to MAGA and discourage young leftists from voting. And guess what? It fucking worked.
That means that people like you are either getting paid to spread this bullshit, or they're stupid enough to be spreading it for free. Wake the fuck up. You're undermining all of us with this doom-and-gloom approach to politics. Instead of motivating people to get more involved in the process...you're sucking all the fucking oxygen out of the room and guaranteeing that people walk away. That bullshit is exactly what got Trump elected again. And they're counting on it in order to keep him in power indefinitely. Stop helping them.
I've never said that, but centrists sure love to imagine that even the slightest criticism of genocide is instead some position that their interlocutors haven't taken.
Lol! You may not have said those words, specifically...but you've certainly used a ton of Steve Bannon's other talking points during this discussion. Whether you're getting your information directly from him, or from some of his subsidiaries (like Jimmy Dore for example), isn't the point. The point is you're still spreading his propaganda, whether you know it or not.
And even with this last comment, you are strawmaanning my position again. I am not criticizing your position on Israel's genocide. Stop making that your only argument here. It isn't valid. I agree with you. Genocide is bad. But how does it help having Trump in the office instead of Harris? Israel is even more aggressive now...and Trump is exactly the kind of stupid to go along with it.
Harris wouldn't speak up against Biden during her campaign...but given how public opinion is shifting within her base...do you honestly believe that she would be worse than Trump right now? Clutching your pearls because of how close she was to Biden, while holding the door open for a literal fascist to walk past you, is social and political negligence. If you're not voting to the left in every election...the right will keep winning.
You need to be able to recognize who the real enemy is and how to stop them, if you want any hope of turning this shit around. Or, you can throw your hands in the air and give up. Which is exactly what folks like Steve Bannon are counting on.
It doesn't. Harris should have abandoned that losing issue. She didn't and lost with the electorate she had before her. I voted for her, not that you will ever care.
I don't. Stop misrepresenting my position. I wanted her to win. I voted for her. But she was determined to pick the wrong side of an issue unpopular with gettable voters, out of fear of losing conservative votes that she never had and could not get. It's not the only example of political malpractice in the Harris camp, but it remains the most egregious from a moral standpoint.
Voters vote when they are excited to vote. You may not like it, and you can scream and yell at voters all you like. But when you're done, the electorate you have to get votes from won't have changed.
If you don't at least try to appeal to the voters, you will lose. And since republicans will never vote for you no matter what you do, appealing to them is a fool's errand. Which means you have to appeal to all your gettable voters. Which means the progressives need something to get them on board. "Best I can do is second worst to fascist by as narrow a margin as possible" is a hard sell in a market increasingly hostile to netanyahu's playthings.