Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called out Democratic strategist James Carville for placing the blame on Democrats' poor election day performance in a number of states on progressives’ "stupid wokeness," with the "Squad" member saying the term is popular among older people.
"Like the average audience for people seriously using the word ’woke’ in a 2021 political discussion are James Carville and Fox News pundits so that should tell you all you need to know," Ocasio-Cortez said in a Twitter thread Friday.
"And before people disingenuously complain ‘woke’ is denigrating to older people, it’s actually pundits like Carville using terms like ‘woke’ to insult voters under 45 that’s denigrating," she continued. "Don’t wonder why youth turnout falls when Dems talk about them like this. We need everyone."
This comes after Carville, who managed former President Bill Clinton's campaign in 1992, said during an appearance on "PBS NewsHour" last week that far-left Democrats' cultural politics can be attributed for the party's lackluster election showings Tuesday.
"Well, what went wrong is this stupid wokeness," he said. "Don’t just look at Virginia and New Jersey."
"Look at Long Island, look at Buffalo, look at Minneapolis. Even look at Seattle, Wash. I mean, this ‘defund the police’ lunacy, this ‘take Abraham Lincoln’s name off of schools,’ that — people see that," he said before pointing out that progressives should check into a "woke detox center."
Republican Glenn Youngkin won Virginia's gubernatorial race over Democrat Terry McAuliffe despite President Joe Biden winning the commonwealth by 10 percentage points in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) narrowly won reelection in a race that he was expected to win in a landslide.
Republicans also won Virginia's races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, and gained control of the House of Delegates. The party also won state seats in a number of other states, including New Jersey, Texas and Ohio.
Additionally, voters in Minneapolis and Seattle shot down the idea of defunding the police after anti-police protests plagued their cities following the death of George Floyd. Minneapolis voted against a measure to replace the police department while Seattle elected Republican Ann Davidson for city attorney in a race against anti-police Democrat Nicole Thomas-Kennedy.
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