Media chief says AOC's «Woke 1» remark hides shift to socialist class war
Pirate Wires Editor-in-Chief Mike Solana argues Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's dismissal of past progressive positions signals a Democratic pivot from identity politics to class conflict, as DSA-backed candidates gain ground nationwide.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recent dismissal of past left-wing platforms as «Woke 1 was crazy» is not a move toward the political center but a signal of a more aggressive direction for the Democratic Party, according to Pirate Wires Editor-in-Chief Mike Solana. His comments come as candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) continue to win races across the country, pushing centrist Democrats to confront the group's growing influence.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Solana criticized the New York congresswoman's response to her party's progressive past. The criticism follows Ocasio-Cortez's appearance on ABC's «This Week,» where host Jonathan Karl pressed her on Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong's previous calls to defund police and abolish prisons. Ocasio-Cortez dismissed concerns about Hong's earlier positions, saying, «I have a local city councilman that has this saying, 'Woke 1 was crazy.' And I think that what's important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.» Hong failed to capture the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial nomination, losing on Aug. 11.
Solana argued the congresswoman's comment allowed her to avoid accountability for past positions without offering a real admission of error. «She said something more interesting, which she had from another Democrat, a phrase, 'Woke one was crazy,'» he said. «Now, it was an incredible obfuscation, you know, there's no real admission of guilt there, but there is an admission that there was an era of crazy left-wing views that was not really palatable or correct.»
According to Solana, Ocasio-Cortez has not renounced several of her previous positions, including support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defunding the police, and granting mass amnesty to illegal immigrants. While he acknowledged that politicians can change their views over time, he argued voters deserve clear answers on which positions progressives are actually abandoning. «There are all of these things in the era of woke that she's been a part of that she hasn't actually said she no longer believes,» Solana said. «We kind of wrap it all in a neat little bow which is 'woke one was crazy,' and we move on and maybe she's not going to talk about those things anymore.»
Solana suggested the shift from «Woke 1» to «Woke 2» is less about identity politics and more about class conflict. «Things are a little bit less racist and a lot more classist. We're doing a class war now; the race war is kind of over. There's room for everyone of every color to eat the rich,» he said. His remarks echoed statements from a recent column in which he argued Democrats are now less focused on «destroying White people» and instead have shifted their platform to center around destroying the wealthy.
The DSA is the largest socialist political organization in the United States, with more than 100,000 members. The group has gained attention as DSA-backed candidates have defeated more moderate Democrats in states including New York and Colorado. Prominent democratic socialists holding public office include Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. According to the DSA website, the group opposes capitalism, which it calls a «system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit.» Its platform also calls for abolishing the Senate, expanding the House, and establishing public ownership of the largest private companies.
Solana said moderate Democrats are allowing far-left members to remain influential in the party rather than pushing back against them. «They've won everywhere from obviously New York and [Los Angeles] to Louisville, Kentucky. They're winning everywhere. Everywhere there is a city, the DSA is ascendant,» he said. «As the DSA becomes more ascendant, the centrist Democrats have a choice. It's like, 'Do we cut them out of our party completely, or do we ourselves moderate, not in the context of America, but in the context of the New Democratic Party?'»
Fox News Digital reached out to the DSA and representatives for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez but did not immediately receive a response.
