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AOC says lockdowns made ‘Woke 1’ insane. Her old tweets show she got an early and eager start

AOC says lockdowns made ‘Woke 1’ insane. Her old tweets show she got an early and eager start
By Caleb Howe

— Woke

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been at the center of a minor uproar over comments she made in an interview last week putting distance between herself and the aggressive "woke" politics that brought her and other Squad members to power, and seemingly acknowledging those views may not be as popular as they once were – or as sane as she pretended at the time.

The record shows the "Woke 1" early adopter doesn't have a lot of room with which to add such distance.

AOC chuckled on air last week as she quoted a local politician on woke politics in response to Karl's questions about past extreme positions among certain Democrats and Democratic Socialists. Laughing, she replied, "I have a local city councilman that has this saying: Woke 1 was crazy."

The progressive congresswoman, herself a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, was suggesting and implicitly admitting that there were extreme ideas and rhetoric in her wing of the left, blaming it in large part on lockdowns. She essentially acknowledged that such views aren't popular with most Americans and hinted that in fact it hurts the party's electoral prospects.

AOC did couch that pseudo-criticism in pseudo-praise by arguing that the extreme politics moved the so-called Overton Window and therefore had a positive impact on how issues are discussed today. Yet she did face criticism and some mockery over the last several days as a result of the comments, even though she faced very little pushback from Karl.

"... RHETORIC IN THAT TIME IS NOT RHETORIC THAT WE WOULD USE TODAY..."

Despite the effort to distance herself from extreme comments made by candidates like Francesca Hong in Wisconsin, and in contradiction of her claims about the pandemic spurring

In an article published over the weekend, Axios pointed out that AOC's mild walkaway from the wilder views of those years is belied to some extent, though the article did not put it in those words, by her own on-the-record comments from those days, some coming before the COVID pandemic ever reared its head.

Axios hit some highlights, such as AOC's "Defund the Police" rhetoric and activism, about which she proudly bragged. They also brought up the infamous “no choice but to riot” comments the congresswoman made in a 2019 radio interview.

Axios had a few more choice examples, including AOC's use of "menstruating person" in 2021. That one comes after the lockdowns but shows no signs of having been walked back. Dozens of additional examples, many of which didn’t make the Axios article, are from before, during, and after lockdowns. Below are some of the most illustrative.

In messages, speeches, and interviews, and particularly on social media, both pre- and post-lockdown AOC wanted to defund the police and abolish ICE, advocated "decarceration" and prison releases, accused wide swaths of America – both citizens and government – of harboring white supremacy, racism, and more.

She also made the very serious charge that the United States was running "concentration camps" under Trump, emphasizing she meant it literally and not as hyperbole. She demanded there be "no walls" and "no fences" at the border. Promised "no justice, no peace" on immigration.

AOC wanted to defund the entire Department of Homeland Security over immigration policies she disagreed with politically, an obvious risk to national security. She was and remains major player in "Abolish ICE" activism.

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AOC was also on the bleeding edge of "Woke 1" gender and euphemism politics, leading the charge on "Latinx" and the "pronouns" explosion.

Another hallmark of "Woke 1" was intersectionality and identity politics and rhetoric. Again, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was a major figure at the forefront, and not as a consequence of lockdown.

She also often voiced the extremely woke, exceedingly unpopular view that anyone – or any white person – can "aid" racism, assist white supremacy, or be racist without even knowing it just by virtue of who they are or where they live or events that occur in their proximity.

On This Week, the almost apologetic reminder of past views that Karl sheepishly offered AOC did not include mention of her many, many such views, all of which were perfectly in-line with, if not a primary source of, "Woke 1" politics and ideology. And the idea that she, Hong, and even radical podcaster and purported Democratic kingmaker Hassan Piker have walked back from their extreme views was taken as a given by the ABC journalist.

Nevertheless, as Axios pointed out in brief, and we have documented here more extensively – though not comprehensively or utterly – it's safe to say that prior to the COVID lockdowns, Woke 1 was already well underway.

And despite her effort to move toward the so-called "center" in politics, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of its chief architects and biggest cheerleaders. Something she herself pointed out.

One more thing: Axios noted that AOC isn't the only progressive left figure trying to court the center in this midterm year (emphasis added):

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last year that "not one person ever in my office has ever used the word Latinx," though he repeatedly did so in 2020.

Ouch.

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