Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat who many progressives hope will run for president in 2028, has faced a wave of left-wing backlash over comments at the weekend which have been interpreted as her speaking out against woke.

Ocasio-Cortez was asked during an interview on ABC News’ This Week on Sunday about remarks made by Wisconsin governor candidate Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist whose old social media posts about Thanksgiving have become a sticking point ahead of her primary on Tuesday.

In 2020, Hong said on Twitter: "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621." She has since backtracked from that, saying recently: "I'm not going to cancel Thanksgiving," and "I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family this year."

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez was pressed by this This Week host Jonathan Karl for her thoughts about Hong's past position, and her reactions highlight the shift by many progressives away from "woke" culture and policies such as defunding the police embraced by many on the left around 2020.

"My understanding is that Francesca Hong has made clear her present stances to her electorate," she said. She agreed with the host that Hong had now rowed back from her Thanksgiving remark. "She’s moved away from it. I have a local city councilman that has this saying, ‘Woke 1 was crazy.’ I think that what’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now."

She viewed the culture amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a "huge opening of the Overton window."

"The doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place," she said. "I actually think that the discussions that we had in that time were quite fruitful. I think that when we talk about crime today, it’s fundamentally different than the way that we talked about crime and bringing crime down."

Newsweek reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s team for comment via email.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ‘Woke 1’ Remarks Draw Left-Wing Backlash

Ocasio-Cortez’s comments were taken as 'speaking out against woke' by some on the left, sparking criticism.

Briahna Joy Gray, a progressive commentator who served as Senator Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign press secretary, wrote in response to Ocasio-Cortez in a post on X, "LOLZ George Floyd was crazy! I was like, Black lives? Jkjkjk."

Kate Willett, a comedian and writer, also took issue with Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks.

"I know that most members of National DSA anticipate riding her coattails would boost our numbers but not if she’s denouncing DSA and socialism the whole time lol. I know I’m in the minority but I see no advantage to debasing ourselves for this," she wrote on X.

Journalist Alex Colston wrote that people describe the era as if it was "reducible to chaotic intra-elite discourse and panic," but that it only occurred due to "the largest uprising in U.S. history that same year."

"The ruling class did not handle that very well, who would deny? They freaked out, and cycled through every known trope of liberal political correctness and deference, but somehow they never addressed the reason for the uprising in the first place: police murdering people," he wrote.

The progressive account @ProudSocialist, which has more than 400,000 followers on X, said "Woke 1” was "not crazy."

"What is crazy is U.S. cities have police budgets that are bigger than the military budgets of entire countries. Reallocating police funding to healthcare and housing is a common-sense solution rooted in justice," the account wrote.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Chances of Winning 2028 Primary

Ocasio-Cortez has been named as a potential 2028 presidential candidate who could consolidate support among the party’s left-leaning flank—particularly as several recent primaries suggest there is more of an appetite among the party’s primary electorate for a more left-leaning candidate. Her endorsed candidate Abdul El-Sayed defeated Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Senate primary earlier in August, delivering a political victory to Ocasio-Cortez.

Ocasio-Cortez said on This Week she is focused on Democrats winning the midterms but that she hasn’t "ruled out the possibility" of running for president.

"I’m very humbled for the tremendous amount of support out there," she said. "I think that we have a responsibility to remain focused on the midterms and not on our individual aspirations or plans."

She has also been floated as a potential candidate to run against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who has faced criticism from the base over what many Democrats view as a feeble response to Trump’s administration.

The latest polls, however, show other more moderate candidates with an early lead. Early polling this far out is not necessarily definitive but can be a key signal to fundraisers about a candidate’s name recognition and popularity. As the primary begins and candidates begin making their cases to voters, polling can always shift.

An Emerson College poll, which surveyed 574 likely voters from July 19-20, showed Ocasio-Cortez received 13 percent of the vote, behind former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (19 percent) and California Governor Gavin Newsom (17 percent). Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff also received 13 percent, while former Vice President Kamala Harris polled at 8 percent.

A McLaughlin & Associates poll showed Harris in the lead (28 percent), followed by Newsom (17 percent), Ocasio-Cortez (10 percent) and Buttigieg (8 percent). It surveyed 472 likely voters from July 15-21.

Ocasio-Cortez is among the top candidates in prediction markets as well. As of Monday, Kalshi showed Newsom having the greatest chance of winning the Democratic primary with 16 percent, followed by both Ocasio-Cortez and Ossoff at 15 percent. On Polymarket, Newsom led with 18 percent, followed by Ossoff at 16 percent and Ocasio-Cortez at 15 percent.

Prediction markets allow traders to buy and sell contracts tied to political outcomes and current events, aggregating real‑money wagers into probability estimates.

Prices fluctuate as traders react to polling, fundraising, candidate developments and broader political trends. They measure trader sentiment at a given moment but do not always accurately predict the future.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Trevor Davies.