Democratic Socialists of America Withdraws National AOC Support

(RepublicanPress.org) – The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has chapters in all 50 states and promotes itself as the largest socialist organization in the nation. They aren’t a political party; instead, they are an activist group. The DSA’s National Political Committee (NPC) recently withdrew its support for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

On July 10, the DSA issued a press release regarding the status of the organization’s national endorsement for AOC. The statement noted that the organization voted to endorse the New York lawmaker in June 2023 as long as she fulfilled four conditions.

Publicly support the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign to end Israel’s colonialism (i.e., withdraw from the occupied territories, remove the West Bank’s separation barrier, and ensure the rights of Palestinian refugees to return)
Publicly oppose the criminalization of anti-Zionism like legislation advancing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism
Regularly participate in the DSA’s Federalist Socialists in Office Committee, an internal group within the organization comprised of elected officials and members of the group’s steering committee and priority issue-based campaigns
Publicly oppose all funding to Israel, including its Iron Dome mobile air defense system

The press release explained that the NPC agreed to withdraw the DSA’s endorsement of AOC at the request of the steering committee of the New York City DSA (NYC-DSA) chapter. That local group felt the national endorsement wasn’t strategic due to its proximity to the New York Democratic primary elections. The NYC-DSA also said it hadn’t anticipated the national organization placing conditions on its endorsement.

The NPC agreed to withdraw the DSA’s nationwide endorsement since the committee members “have not seen evidence of AOC meeting [its] conditions.” However, the NYC-DSA continues to endorse the congresswoman’s bid for another term.

It remains unclear whether the DSA’s decision to withdraw its support for AOC will impact the upcoming general election. She already won the Democratic primary, and the group only has about 93,000 members nationwide. The New York congresswoman defeated her rivals in the last three elections by a margin of roughly 50,000 to 93,000 votes. The last Republican to win NY-District 14 was Susan Molinari in 1990.