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.
Raising the minimum wage. Family leave. Childcare. Revisiting the public option. Rescheduling cannabis at the federal level.
Oh, man. So, you’re one of those people who just doesn’t understand how laws get passed?
Biden can promise all kinds of stuff with the full intention of getting it all done…but the president themselves, has very little authority to actually do any of it, without Congress. That doesn’t mean he lied to you. It just means that not all of it made it through Congress.
That’s why you have to use some critical thinking when you listen to what any presidential candidate is saying. These “promises” all demonstrate the direction a president wants to take things…but in the end, it is always up to Congress to get it done. Anyone who genuinely thinks the president has the authority to just “do stuff”, doesn’t understand basic civics.
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.