{"id":2344,"date":"2026-08-17T04:10:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344"},"modified":"2026-08-17T04:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:10:22","slug":"democrats-suddenly-cant-define-woke-after-aoc-says-it-was-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) handed her party a problem it spent Sunday morning refusing to answer when she laughed off a slate of far-left policy positions as the excesses of \u201cWoke 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Deadly Hurricane Ravages Hawaiian Islands, Houses Float Away<\/a><\/p>\n

Two of the biggest Sunday shows put Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s remark to Democratic guests as a loyalty test, and both guests gave a near-identical non-answer. NBC\u2019s Kristen Welker and CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper each raised it on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d and \u201cState of the Union,\u201d respectively.<\/p>\n

Welker put the question to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) directly, quoting Ocasio-Cortez and asking whether he agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019 effectively suggesting some progressive views just went too far in the 2020s,\u201d Welker said. \u201cDo you agree with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Woke 1 was crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know what these labels mean,\u201d Khanna replied, immediately pivoting to a recitation of his own record: \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019ve always stood for. I have never been for defunding police.\u201d He went on to volunteer that he has \u201ccalled for abolishing ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welker followed up by asking about Francesca Hong \u2014 the Madison democratic socialist who narrowly lost Wisconsin\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday \u2014 and the resurfaced post in which she called for getting rid of Thanksgiving. \u201cDid that kind of rhetoric hurt the progressive cause?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Khanna refused to give an inch. \u201cI really feel bad for what happened to Francesca. And I know it\u2019s fashionable to distance yourself. I am not,\u201d he said. \u201cI was proud to endorse her and she\u2019s far more than the caricature that was presented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, Ocasio-Cortez herself never endorsed Hong. Asked in the same ABC News interview that produced the \u201cWoke 1\u201d line whether she would, she said her focus was \u201cwinning back the Congress\u201d \u2014 putting her in line with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the national Democratic Socialists of America, all of whom stayed out. Khanna did not.<\/p>\n

On \u201cState of the Union,\u201d Tapper raised an almost identical line of questioning with Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), referencing Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s comments and pressing Moore for his view.<\/p>\n

Read more Parents Sue School District Over Mosque Field Trip, Claim Religious Indoctrination<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Democrat Governor of Maryland Wes Moore plays dumb when asked if Democrats went too far by calling to defund the police:<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I don\u2019t know what woke 1 is, but frankly I don\u2019t know what woke 2 or woke 3 is either.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/PFVN265qYw<\/p>\n

\u2014 RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 16, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cCongresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems to have acknowledged the overreach of the 2020 era of progressivism last week. She said, quote, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,’\u201d Tapper said. \u201cYou were asked about that. You said you didn\u2019t know what Woke 1 was. So I\u2019ve been trying to figure out how to ask this question. There\u2019s no official definition. I think Woke 1 generally refers to what are now viewed as excesses of the progressive movement \u2014 defund the police, a far-left view of the world that views the world in terms of only oppressor and oppressee, language policing, holiday policing, cancel culture positions that turned off a lot of middle-of-the-road voters. What is your take on that era, even if that wasn\u2019t part of how you ran or thought or governed \u2014 and what does the Democratic Party need to do if they hope to win outside of blue states and congressional districts?\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore took a position almost identical to Khanna\u2019s, replying, \u201cWell, it\u2019s funny, it\u2019s true \u2014 I said I don\u2019t know what Woke 1 is, but frankly, I don\u2019t know what Woke 2 or Woke 3 is either.\u201d Moore then pivoted to gas prices, recounting a conversation with a woman at a Delmarva Shorebirds game who told him she can\u2019t afford to drive to her doctor\u2019s appointments. Tapper did not follow up.<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez further popularized the phrase during an August 9 appearance on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week,\u201d where she too was attempting to put some distance between herself and the less popular policies of the far left. Anchor Jonathan Karl had asked her about Hong\u2019s record. The line wasn\u2019t hers: she borrowed it from New York City Councilman Chi Oss\u00e9, a fellow socialist who deployed it in May while explaining away his own 2021 declaration that \u201ca cis white man should not be the next speaker of the Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a local city councilman that has this saying, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019\u201d Ocasio-Cortez told Karl during an interview. \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went on to blame the pandemic for the era\u2019s excesses while insisting the debates it produced were worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place. And I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more Sophie Cunningham Jumps On A Bar And Belts Out Toby Keith After Fever Win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) handed her party a problem it spent Sunday morning refusing to answer when she laughed off a slate of far-left policy positions as the excesses of \u201cWoke 1.\u201dTwo of the biggest Sunday shows put Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s remark to Democratic guests as a loyalty test, and both guests gave a near-identical non-answer. NBC\u2019s Kristen Welker and CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper each raised it on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d and \u201cState of the Union,\u201d respectively.Welker put the question to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) directly, quoting Ocasio-Cortez and asking whether he agreed.\u201cShe said \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019 effectively suggesting some progressive views just went too far in the 2020s,\u201d Welker said. \u201cDo you agree with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Woke 1 was crazy?\u201d\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know what these labels mean,\u201d Khanna replied, immediately pivoting to a recitation of his own record: \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019ve always stood for. I have never been for defunding police.\u201d He went on to volunteer that he has \u201ccalled for abolishing ICE.\u201dWelker followed up by asking about Francesca Hong \u2014 the Madison democratic socialist who narrowly lost Wisconsin\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday \u2014 and the resurfaced post in which she called for getting rid of Thanksgiving. \u201cDid that kind of rhetoric hurt the progressive cause?\u201d she asked.Khanna refused to give an inch. \u201cI really feel bad for what happened to Francesca. And I know it\u2019s fashionable to distance yourself. I am not,\u201d he said. \u201cI was proud to endorse her and she\u2019s far more than the caricature that was presented.\u201dNotably, Ocasio-Cortez herself never endorsed Hong. Asked in the same ABC News interview that produced the \u201cWoke 1\u201d line whether she would, she said her focus was \u201cwinning back the Congress\u201d \u2014 putting her in line with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the national Democratic Socialists of America, all of whom stayed out. Khanna did not.On \u201cState of the Union,\u201d Tapper raised an almost identical line of questioning with Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), referencing Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s comments and pressing Moore for his view.Democrat Governor of Maryland Wes Moore plays dumb when asked if Democrats went too far by calling to defund the police:\u201cI said I don\u2019t know what woke 1 is, but frankly I don\u2019t know what woke 2 or woke 3 is either.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/PFVN265qYw\u2014 RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 16, 2026\u201cCongresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems to have acknowledged the overreach of the 2020 era of progressivism last week. She said, quote, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,'\u201d Tapper said. \u201cYou were asked about that. You said you didn\u2019t know what Woke 1 was. So I\u2019ve been trying to figure out how to ask this question. There\u2019s no official definition. I think Woke 1 generally refers to what are now viewed as excesses of the progressive movement \u2014 defund the police, a far-left view of the world that views the world in terms of only oppressor and oppressee, language policing, holiday policing, cancel culture positions that turned off a lot of middle-of-the-road voters. What is your take on that era, even if that wasn\u2019t part of how you ran or thought or governed \u2014 and what does the Democratic Party need to do if they hope to win outside of blue states and congressional districts?\u201dMoore took a position almost identical to Khanna\u2019s, replying, \u201cWell, it\u2019s funny, it\u2019s true \u2014 I said I don\u2019t know what Woke 1 is, but frankly, I don\u2019t know what Woke 2 or Woke 3 is either.\u201d Moore then pivoted to gas prices, recounting a conversation with a woman at a Delmarva Shorebirds game who told him she can\u2019t afford to drive to her doctor\u2019s appointments. Tapper did not follow up.Ocasio-Cortez further popularized the phrase during an August 9 appearance on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week,\u201d where she too was attempting to put some distance between herself and the less popular policies of the far left. Anchor Jonathan Karl had asked her about Hong\u2019s record. The line wasn\u2019t hers: she borrowed it from New York City Councilman Chi Oss\u00e9, a fellow socialist who deployed it in May while explaining away his own 2021 declaration that \u201ca cis white man should not be the next speaker of the Council.\u201d\u201cI have a local city councilman that has this saying, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019\u201d Ocasio-Cortez told Karl during an interview. \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.\u201dShe went on to blame the pandemic for the era\u2019s excesses while insisting the debates it produced were worthwhile.\u201cI think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place. And I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019 - Blue Route Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019 - Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) handed her party a problem it spent Sunday morning refusing to answer when she laughed off a slate of far-left policy positions as the excesses of \u201cWoke 1.\u201dTwo of the biggest Sunday shows put Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s remark to Democratic guests as a loyalty test, and both guests gave a near-identical non-answer. NBC\u2019s Kristen Welker and CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper each raised it on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d and \u201cState of the Union,\u201d respectively.Welker put the question to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) directly, quoting Ocasio-Cortez and asking whether he agreed.\u201cShe said \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019 effectively suggesting some progressive views just went too far in the 2020s,\u201d Welker said. \u201cDo you agree with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Woke 1 was crazy?\u201d\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know what these labels mean,\u201d Khanna replied, immediately pivoting to a recitation of his own record: \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019ve always stood for. I have never been for defunding police.\u201d He went on to volunteer that he has \u201ccalled for abolishing ICE.\u201dWelker followed up by asking about Francesca Hong \u2014 the Madison democratic socialist who narrowly lost Wisconsin\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday \u2014 and the resurfaced post in which she called for getting rid of Thanksgiving. \u201cDid that kind of rhetoric hurt the progressive cause?\u201d she asked.Khanna refused to give an inch. \u201cI really feel bad for what happened to Francesca. And I know it\u2019s fashionable to distance yourself. I am not,\u201d he said. \u201cI was proud to endorse her and she\u2019s far more than the caricature that was presented.\u201dNotably, Ocasio-Cortez herself never endorsed Hong. Asked in the same ABC News interview that produced the \u201cWoke 1\u201d line whether she would, she said her focus was \u201cwinning back the Congress\u201d \u2014 putting her in line with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the national Democratic Socialists of America, all of whom stayed out. Khanna did not.On \u201cState of the Union,\u201d Tapper raised an almost identical line of questioning with Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), referencing Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s comments and pressing Moore for his view.Democrat Governor of Maryland Wes Moore plays dumb when asked if Democrats went too far by calling to defund the police:\u201cI said I don\u2019t know what woke 1 is, but frankly I don\u2019t know what woke 2 or woke 3 is either.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/PFVN265qYw\u2014 RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 16, 2026\u201cCongresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems to have acknowledged the overreach of the 2020 era of progressivism last week. She said, quote, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,&apos;\u201d Tapper said. \u201cYou were asked about that. You said you didn\u2019t know what Woke 1 was. So I\u2019ve been trying to figure out how to ask this question. There\u2019s no official definition. I think Woke 1 generally refers to what are now viewed as excesses of the progressive movement \u2014 defund the police, a far-left view of the world that views the world in terms of only oppressor and oppressee, language policing, holiday policing, cancel culture positions that turned off a lot of middle-of-the-road voters. What is your take on that era, even if that wasn\u2019t part of how you ran or thought or governed \u2014 and what does the Democratic Party need to do if they hope to win outside of blue states and congressional districts?\u201dMoore took a position almost identical to Khanna\u2019s, replying, \u201cWell, it\u2019s funny, it\u2019s true \u2014 I said I don\u2019t know what Woke 1 is, but frankly, I don\u2019t know what Woke 2 or Woke 3 is either.\u201d Moore then pivoted to gas prices, recounting a conversation with a woman at a Delmarva Shorebirds game who told him she can\u2019t afford to drive to her doctor\u2019s appointments. Tapper did not follow up.Ocasio-Cortez further popularized the phrase during an August 9 appearance on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week,\u201d where she too was attempting to put some distance between herself and the less popular policies of the far left. Anchor Jonathan Karl had asked her about Hong\u2019s record. The line wasn\u2019t hers: she borrowed it from New York City Councilman Chi Oss\u00e9, a fellow socialist who deployed it in May while explaining away his own 2021 declaration that \u201ca cis white man should not be the next speaker of the Council.\u201d\u201cI have a local city councilman that has this saying, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019\u201d Ocasio-Cortez told Karl during an interview. \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.\u201dShe went on to blame the pandemic for the era\u2019s excesses while insisting the debates it produced were worthwhile.\u201cI think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place. And I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful,\u201d she said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T04:10:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"headline\":\"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T04:10:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344\"},\"wordCount\":856,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344\",\"name\":\"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019 - Blue Route Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T04:10:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=2344#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Route Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019 - Blue Route Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019 - Blue Route Journal","og_description":"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) handed her party a problem it spent Sunday morning refusing to answer when she laughed off a slate of far-left policy positions as the excesses of \u201cWoke 1.\u201dTwo of the biggest Sunday shows put Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s remark to Democratic guests as a loyalty test, and both guests gave a near-identical non-answer. NBC\u2019s Kristen Welker and CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper each raised it on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d and \u201cState of the Union,\u201d respectively.Welker put the question to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) directly, quoting Ocasio-Cortez and asking whether he agreed.\u201cShe said \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019 effectively suggesting some progressive views just went too far in the 2020s,\u201d Welker said. \u201cDo you agree with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Woke 1 was crazy?\u201d\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know what these labels mean,\u201d Khanna replied, immediately pivoting to a recitation of his own record: \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019ve always stood for. I have never been for defunding police.\u201d He went on to volunteer that he has \u201ccalled for abolishing ICE.\u201dWelker followed up by asking about Francesca Hong \u2014 the Madison democratic socialist who narrowly lost Wisconsin\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday \u2014 and the resurfaced post in which she called for getting rid of Thanksgiving. \u201cDid that kind of rhetoric hurt the progressive cause?\u201d she asked.Khanna refused to give an inch. \u201cI really feel bad for what happened to Francesca. And I know it\u2019s fashionable to distance yourself. I am not,\u201d he said. \u201cI was proud to endorse her and she\u2019s far more than the caricature that was presented.\u201dNotably, Ocasio-Cortez herself never endorsed Hong. Asked in the same ABC News interview that produced the \u201cWoke 1\u201d line whether she would, she said her focus was \u201cwinning back the Congress\u201d \u2014 putting her in line with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the national Democratic Socialists of America, all of whom stayed out. Khanna did not.On \u201cState of the Union,\u201d Tapper raised an almost identical line of questioning with Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), referencing Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s comments and pressing Moore for his view.Democrat Governor of Maryland Wes Moore plays dumb when asked if Democrats went too far by calling to defund the police:\u201cI said I don\u2019t know what woke 1 is, but frankly I don\u2019t know what woke 2 or woke 3 is either.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/PFVN265qYw\u2014 RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 16, 2026\u201cCongresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems to have acknowledged the overreach of the 2020 era of progressivism last week. She said, quote, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,'\u201d Tapper said. \u201cYou were asked about that. You said you didn\u2019t know what Woke 1 was. So I\u2019ve been trying to figure out how to ask this question. There\u2019s no official definition. I think Woke 1 generally refers to what are now viewed as excesses of the progressive movement \u2014 defund the police, a far-left view of the world that views the world in terms of only oppressor and oppressee, language policing, holiday policing, cancel culture positions that turned off a lot of middle-of-the-road voters. What is your take on that era, even if that wasn\u2019t part of how you ran or thought or governed \u2014 and what does the Democratic Party need to do if they hope to win outside of blue states and congressional districts?\u201dMoore took a position almost identical to Khanna\u2019s, replying, \u201cWell, it\u2019s funny, it\u2019s true \u2014 I said I don\u2019t know what Woke 1 is, but frankly, I don\u2019t know what Woke 2 or Woke 3 is either.\u201d Moore then pivoted to gas prices, recounting a conversation with a woman at a Delmarva Shorebirds game who told him she can\u2019t afford to drive to her doctor\u2019s appointments. Tapper did not follow up.Ocasio-Cortez further popularized the phrase during an August 9 appearance on ABC\u2019s \u201cThis Week,\u201d where she too was attempting to put some distance between herself and the less popular policies of the far left. Anchor Jonathan Karl had asked her about Hong\u2019s record. The line wasn\u2019t hers: she borrowed it from New York City Councilman Chi Oss\u00e9, a fellow socialist who deployed it in May while explaining away his own 2021 declaration that \u201ca cis white man should not be the next speaker of the Council.\u201d\u201cI have a local city councilman that has this saying, \u2018Woke 1 was crazy,\u2019\u201d Ocasio-Cortez told Karl during an interview. \u201cWhat\u2019s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now.\u201dShe went on to blame the pandemic for the era\u2019s excesses while insisting the debates it produced were worthwhile.\u201cI think that the doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place. And I actually think that the discussions that were had in that time were quite fruitful,\u201d she said.","og_url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344","og_site_name":"Blue Route Journal","article_published_time":"2026-08-17T04:10:22+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"headline":"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019","datePublished":"2026-08-17T04:10:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344"},"wordCount":856,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344","name":"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019 - Blue Route Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif","datePublished":"2026-08-17T04:10:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3ee30aef4fcca34edb47ee03bc65c444.avif","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2344#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Democrats Suddenly Can\u2019t Define \u2018Woke\u2019 After AOC Says It Was \u2018Crazy\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/","name":"Blue Route Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/blueroutejournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}