Progressive Politics

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.