The Left imposed extreme COVID rules that disrupted almost every part of normal life. Businesses closed, workers lost income, children fell behind in school, and the economy suffered. Yet once the consequences became impossible to ignore, many of the people who supported those policies seemed eager to move on without a serious investigation of what went wrong.
Americans were expected to treat the catastrophe as an honest mistake and stop asking who should be held responsible. Many believe the restrictions caused more suffering than they prevented. Even now, few of the officials involved have publicly acknowledged that their decisions may have done more harm than good.
A similar effort appears to be underway with the woke movement.
For years, left-wing activists promoted policies that reduced penalties for crime and attempted to limit which opinions could be expressed without social or professional consequences. Transgender activism became increasingly influential in schools, athletic programs, and workplaces. Americans who questioned these policies were often dismissed as hateful instead of having their concerns addressed.
Eventually, the public began pushing back.
Some politicians associated with these ideas now want voters to view them as sensible moderates. Wisconsin politician Francesca Hong offers a revealing example. Other progressives also appear to be distancing themselves from positions they once supported openly.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELThat issue came up when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke with Jon Karl.
AOC on Francesca Hong’s old tweets calling for abolishing prisons and the police:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used this strategy while speaking with Jon Karl.
AOC on Francesca Hong’s old tweets calling for abolishing prisons and the police:
“Woke 1 was crazy.” pic.twitter.com/OuqYhSwtbk
Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 9, 2026
“Abolish prisons, abolish police, which is also positions that have been taken by a lot of the progressive candidates who have won. How do you get around that?” Karl asked. “Those are not positions that are supported by most Americans.”
Karl had raised a serious question about proposals that remain unpopular with much of the country. Instead of directly addressing the substance of those positions, AOC emphasized the local nature of the race and Hong’s current presentation to voters.
“I think that a lot of these races even right now, they’ll have a tendency to be nationalized. But these races ultimately are local and all politics are local. My understanding is that Francesca Hong has made clear her present stances to her electorate,” AOC replied.
Karl then supplied the more specific claim that Hong had abandoned many of her previous positions.
“Yeah, she’s moved away from a lot of that,” Karl interjected.
“Right, she’s moved away from it,” AOC continued. “And I have a local city councilman that has this saying, ‘Woke One’ was crazy.”
“Woke One was crazy. I think that’s the truth,” Karl said.
The two of them laughed.
The exchange allowed a serious political issue to be treated as an amusing relic of the past. Instead of examining what Hong previously supported or establishing how her current positions had changed, the conversation moved quickly toward the suggestion that the entire episode belonged to an earlier and less disciplined version of the progressive movement.
The available evidence complicates that explanation.
The Wisconsin Electoral Socialists endorsed Hong in January, citing her “commitment to police and prison abolition.” According to the organization, Hong completed its questionnaire and participated in an interview before receiving the endorsement. That makes the endorsement more significant than an old social-media post uncovered by a political opponent.
Nothing presented during the exchange established that Hong had renounced those positions. AOC said Hong had made her current positions clear to local voters. Karl was the one who stated that she had moved away from many of her earlier beliefs. Neither provided evidence during the conversation showing exactly what had changed.
That leaves voters with a legitimate question. Has Hong genuinely moderated her beliefs, or has she simply changed how she presents them during an election?
The distinction matters because these ideas have not disappeared from progressive politics. Proposals to abolish the Senate, eliminate prisons, or dismantle police departments would face substantial public opposition if presented plainly. Candidates who support such policies have an obvious political incentive to use less alarming language when addressing a broader electorate.
Americans should examine the record instead of relying on carefully softened campaign language.
If these politicians regain power, the same agenda could return under different terminology. Softer words would not make the consequences any less serious.
Voters should not allow radical policies to be repackaged as moderation without demanding evidence of what has actually changed. America has already suffered from political experiments whose supporters refused to accept responsibility when the results became impossible to defend. The country cannot afford to repeat that mistake.
#wokeagenda #radicalleft #aoc
