A radical faction within the Democratic Socialists of America is openly turning on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, signaling a deepening rift on the left just as her national ambitions are being tested ahead of 2028
According to The Washington Times, the Democratic Socialists of Americas Liberation Caucus, a self-described Marxist-Leninist-Maoist bloc, issued a blistering statement announcing it would not endorse or give succor to any future Ocasio-Cortez presidential campaign. The group accused the New York Democrat of repeated capitulations to the imperialists, claiming she has drifted away from the hardline socialist movement that helped elevate her to Congress.
The caucus cited conditions imposed by DSAs National Political Committee on Ocasio-Cortezs 2024 re-election endorsement, including opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel and support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign. It argued that the committee had already determined she failed to meet those standards, underscoring what the faction sees as her ideological unreliability.
Liberation Caucus members also condemned Ocasio-Cortez for hosting a panel with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which they denounced as a Zionist organization. They further attacked her for backing away from the defund the police agenda, a retreat that underscores how toxic that slogan has become with voters who have watched crime and disorder rise in major cities.
In a recent ABC interview, Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the 2020-era left-wing surge she once championed, which she labeled Woke 1, as crazy when discussing calls to defund the police and abolish prisons. The Liberation Caucus seized on that remark, branding her shift the hallmark of an opportunist dilettante willing to abandon radical causes when they become politically inconvenient.
The backlash comes even as Ocasio-Cortezs national profile continues to grow within the Democratic Party. She topped a July New Hampshire primary poll of potential 2028 Democratic contenders, edging out former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and posting a commanding lead over former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Inside DSA, national leaders remain divided over how aggressively to engage with a possible Ocasio-Cortez presidential run. The organizations National Political Committee in July rejected a proposal to hold an all-member poll on a 2028 endorsement, opting instead to leave any decision to DSAs existing convention process, a timetable that could delay a formal stance until the August 2027 national convention.
One committee member publicly pushed back on claims that the vote barred local chapters from conducting their own internal surveys. Even so, the Liberation Caucus blasted the influential New York City chapters continued backing of Ocasio-Cortez as proof of the rightist clique protecting an elected official from accountability, noting that some in the chapter have even floated breaking from national DSA rather than sever ties with her.
Formed in 2025, the Liberation Caucus openly advances Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and maintains online material defending Maoist history, including a revisionist take on the Great Leap Forward famine. While it concedes that mass starvation occurred, the caucus disputes the standard account that blames Maoist policy, instead pointing to natural disasters, the Soviet withdrawal of aid, and questioning widely cited death tollsan ideological posture that highlights just how far left of the American mainstream this dispute has drifted, even as President Trumps second administration continues to underscore the stark contrast between socialist experimentation and constitutional, market-oriented governance.
Login