“Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Rep. Francesca Hong‘s previously statements calling to defund the police — saying “Woke 1 was crazy” as she refrained from an endorsement in the race.
Hong, a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, has opened up a massive, double-digit polling lead in the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary over her foe, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
Republicans are hopeful she will win the Aug. 11 primary due to her past calls to get rid of Thanksgiving, abolish the police, and more.
“My understanding is that Francesca Hong has made clear her present stances to her electorate,” Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
“I have a local city councilman that has this saying, ‘Woke 1 was crazy,” she added, referring to Councilmember Chi Ossé. “I think that what’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.”
The congresswoman contended that “Woke 1” was driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and that some of the discourse at the time was “quite fruitful.” She claimed that the conversation about criminal justice in the present day has changed because of “Woke 1.”
“I think that when we talk about crime today, it’s fundamentally different than the way that we talked about crime in bringing crime down, right?” she said.
“I think that during lockdown, of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today.”
Hong had been hesitant to break from her past inflammatory remarks.
Initially, when asked about whether she still wants to cancel Thanksgiving, something she raised in a 2021 interview, Hong told CNN last week that the holiday “is also a time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities.”
After facing backlash from that, she released a statement claiming that she isn’t interested in nixing the holiday.
Around that time, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) indicated that he didn’t have plans to endorse in the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary. Ocasio-Cortez followed suit Sunday.
“I haven’t endorsed in that race. My focus has been in winning back the Congress, winning back the House, and positioning ourselves to have the best chance possible to win the Senate,” she told ABC’s “This Week.”
