Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon argued that prominent progressive figures are not abandoning the ideas associated with the "woke" movement but are instead changing the language they use to present those ideas to voters ahead of future elections.

During a recent commentary, Ungar-Sargon focused much of her analysis on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whom she described as a leading figure within the Democratic Party's progressive wing.

"It was the week of AOC, the New York City Congresswoman and socialist standard bearer."

Ungar-Sargon began by discussing Ocasio-Cortez's announcement that she is freezing her eggs and documenting the process publicly.

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"It started with an announcement: the 36-year-old is freezing her eggs, and she is live streaming every injection of the process on Instagram."

She then played remarks from Ocasio-Cortez explaining why she chose to discuss the subject publicly.

"We are not taught about our bodies. We are not prepared for our own lives, whether that is in puberty, whether that is in pregnancy, whether that is in perimenopause, menopause."

According to Ungar-Sargon, the announcement comes as Ocasio-Cortez is widely viewed as a potential future presidential candidate.

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"It's the clearest indication yet that the congresswoman plans to spend the next two years running for president."

Ungar-Sargon noted that Ocasio-Cortez did not rule out a presidential campaign during a recent interview.

She then shifted to another topic from that interview—Ocasio-Cortez's explanation for declining to endorse Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong.

"Something she did not deny in an interview this week, but she made an even bigger headline during that interview when she was discussing her decision not to endorse the socialist Francesca Hong, who just lost a primary in Wisconsin for governor."

Ungar-Sargon argued that Hong's positions represented an example of what she called "Woke 1."

"What was it about Hong that made her a bridge too far for AOC? She was too woke. Yes, really."

She described Hong's past positions as follows:

"Hong advocated abolishing prisons, defunding the police, and canceling Thanksgiving, and she complained about her proximity to whiteness through her own biracial son."

Ungar-Sargon argued that similar ideas had previously been embraced by many progressives.

"This stuff is, of course, nuts, but it's also the kind of thing that leftists like AOC herself gleefully embraced until, well, this election cycle."

She then reflected on what she described as the dominant progressive messaging between 2016 and recent years.

"From 2016 until very recently, a leftist mania around race and gender took the nation hostage, enforcing an orthodoxy that said that white people are all racists, people of color are all oppressed victims, and this country is to this day ruled by white supremacy."

According to Ungar-Sargon, that movement also targeted policing.

"The wokes insisted that institutions like the police were racist and had to be defunded."

She argued that those debates carried significant real-world consequences.

"And it wasn't just vibes. There were casualties. People lost their livelihoods, others were excommunicated by friends and family if they dared suggest that working people actually need the police to arrest criminals. Neighborhoods burned to the ground during riots that were state-sanctioned. Dozens of people died."

Ungar-Sargon then discussed Ocasio-Cortez's comments regarding Hong.

"Now they are rushing to disavow the views they held until very recently, casting these views as some kind of crazy, cringy relic of a long-distant, long-forgotten bygone era."

She quoted Ocasio-Cortez's explanation.

"Here is AOC on Hong's woke views: My understanding is that Francesca Hong has made clear her present stances to her electorate. She's moved away from it, and I have a local city councilman that has this saying: Woke 1 was crazy."

Ungar-Sargon noted that Ocasio-Cortez laughed immediately afterward.

"And then AOC laughed. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Ungar-Sargon argued that the comments did not address past controversies.

"Never mind that people lost their lives and their jobs! That was so 2020! Today we know the truth: we were never at war with East Asia."

She continued by criticizing what she described as a lack of accountability.

"No accountability, no explanation for how she and her fellow comrades got things so wrong about the police and why the other side got it so right, no apology for the lives ruined by a mania she participated in pushing. Just laughter."

According to Ungar-Sargon, Ocasio-Cortez is now teaching fellow progressives how to repackage their message rather than abandon it.

"AOC, a brilliant communicator, is not just evading responsibility, she's teaching the left how to move on from cultural messaging that normie voters found deeply alienating."

Ungar-Sargon labeled that strategy "Woke 2.0."

"She's teaching them how to reach for the stars, which, turns out, is Woke 2.0."

She argued that the rhetoric has changed while the underlying ideology has not.

"Forget defund the police. That's so woke 1. In woke 2, we believe in defunding ICE. Today, we don't say Latinx anymore, that's so 2020. Today, we believe no human is illegal and no deportation is moral. We don't say America is racist anymore, just that it's racist to police its borders from people who break our laws. Today, we don't say decenter whiteness, we say globalize the intifada."

Ungar-Sargon concluded by arguing that the underlying objectives remain unchanged despite the shift in messaging.

"Welcome to woke 2, same as woke 1. It's still about sneering at and trying to destroy everything that makes America exceptional, and it is just as alienating to working-class voters. That's what we learned about America this week. The left still believes in the same woke garbage. AOC is just teaching them how to hide it better."

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