Politics

AOC denounces anyone engaging in online vitriol after Trump’s victory — Democrats included

Published

1 year ago

November 12, 2024

AOC denounces anyone engaging in online vitriol after Trump’s victory — Democrats included

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hosted a postmortem of sorts on her Instagram account over the weekend, using the platform to connect with voters over Donald Trump’s election victory and how to best prepare for the days and years ahead.

At one point, in response to a question about Democratic infighting and the post-election rancor more generally, the New York Democrat denounced those who have been all too eager to engage in malicious finger-pointing after the election.

Despite the fact that Trump ran a campaign steeped in white racial grievance and the fact that MAGA influencers were literally calling for white men — specifically — to g et out to the pollssome commentators have resorted to tired takes about Kamala Harris losing because the party lean ed too much into “identity politics.”

The Democratic ticket didn’t actually lean into identity politics, but some in the party have settled on that line of thought as well — such as Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who suggested that Democrats’ support for trans people’s rights helped spell their doom this cycle.

Without naming names, Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram:

This is a not insignificant problem. It’s interesting that we are in a cultural moment where, on the left and the right and the center, there’s just a certain cache and reward to being an a–hole. And yeah, we’ve seen it on the right — we also see it on the left. And I actually think that we need to be paying more attention to how a person is, because a lot of people use righteous or popular causes as an excuse or a smokescreen to let out their worst impulses or the ways that they wish they could treat people. And I think we need to pay a lot more attention to that in terms of deciding how to trust and who to trust as we move forward. I think it’s a really big deal.

I agree. I do think a lot of liberals are spending far too much time trying to score cheap political points when it would be far more productive for them to be girding their constituents and the country against the looming Trump presidency — and all the illiberalism it could entail. That criticism actually extends to one of Ocasio-Cortez’s top allies in the Senate — Bernie Sanders — as well.

AOC basically wanted to refocus people’s attention on what lies ahead, although she did take time to ask for feedback from people who voted for her and for Trump. She also spoke about how misconceptions among immigrant communities — including documented citizens who voted — helped benefit Trump.

And she said some people still don’t seem to grasp what a Trump presidency is likely to mean:

I think a lot of people were finding out this week what a tariff meant, that a tariff is not what China or some other country pays — it’s what you pay. What we pay. I think a lot of people aren’t ready for mass deportations and what that means. One in every 15 people in this country lives in a mixed-status family. So that means that we’re talking about one in every 15 people potentially having their families broken apart. I don’t think we’re ready for that, including what that means for the economy. I don’t think we’re ready for the censorship that is coming, and for a whole lot more. But our job right now is to get ready, and to prepare.

What does that preparation look like? Ocasio-Cortez said she’s still taking a moment to process her plan. But she said she’ll personally be “doing a lot more direct communication” — i.e., methods other than social media, which can be overrun with unverified claims and outright propaganda.

“I think I’ll be planning on using my email list to give a lot more thorough and specific things about what’s on my mind and how to prepare for things,” she said. And she encouraged her followers to get out of their online bubbles:

My recommendation is to join and enter community right now: whether it is church, or your knitting circle, or mosque or temple, or whether it is joining … New York City DSA [Democratic Socialists of America]or Working Families Party, an interest group — get into physical community.

For those in despair, she talked about intentional joy being a radical act of defiance.

“I mean, listen: The fear is telling us something, but I also want to underscore how important it is during this time — that it actually is important to be intentional about living, and living fully, and bringing joy into the day to day. And loving on the people who you love,” she said.

“There’s like this scolding culture sometimes where it’s like, if someone dares to be happy in public, people want to, like, pounce on them. We are actually going to need that now more than ever — not in some gauzy, you know, bubble-gum, kind of like ‘deny how bad everything is’ kind of way, but that cultivating it is a tool of our survival.”

Ya’han Jones

Ja’han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He’s a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”

Politics

War, Trump and Washington’s Gridlock | Sen. Katie Britt

Published

5 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

War, Trump and Washington’s Gridlock | Sen. Katie Britt

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Politics

Republican group attacks Thomas Massie for his opposition to Iran war

Published

9 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Republicans attempting to oust Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie in a bitter primary are deploying his opposition to the war in Iran.

The Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund on Thursday planned to release an supporting Ed Gallrein, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, that focuses on Massie’s opposition to the war.

“America is at war with a fanatical regime that seeks nuclear weapons. American hero Ed Gallrein stands with President Trump, our country and our military,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot, shared with Blue Light News ahead of its release.

“Thomas Massie, he stands with Iran and radical leftists in Congress,” the narrator says, “opposing Trump just like he did on the border and taxes.”

The campaign ad appears to be among the first attempts to use the Iran war to support a candidate, a risky choice since polls show the high-risk operation is not popular with voters. Massie, who faces Gallrein in a May primary, is a top Trump target for a number of perceived sins — most notably because the outspoken Kentucky lawmaker successfully pushed with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California for the release of the Epstein files.

The ad from the RJC Victory Fund was scheduled to drop hours after the House rejected an effort led by Massie and Khanna to force the president to halt the attack.

Massie claimed a win, though, by saying “we put everyone on record” about a military operation that “could last months.”

Massie has been outspoken in his opposition to the conflict in Iran, accusing Trump of forsaking his “America First” doctrine and challenging members of his own party to rein in the president’s ability to wage war without the approval of Congress.

As the RJC Victory Fund funneled millions of dollars into attacking him, Massie cast his race as “about whether the Global Military Industrial Complex and Israel’s government controls the United States” and began fundraising off his opposition.

Andrew Howard contributed to this report.

Politics

‘Good riddance’: Dems cheer Noem’s ouster — and call for more departures

Published

13 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats celebrated Kristi Noem’s firing as the Homeland Security secretary on Thursday, while calling for more heads to roll among President Donald Trump’s more controversial aides and advisers.

“Kristi Noem will go down as the most shamelessly incompetent and cruel Homeland Security Secretary in U.S. history,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. “Firing her is not enough. NOEM, GREG BOVINO, and STEPHEN MILLER all must be held accountable for terrorizing and endangering the American people.”

Several other potential 2028 presidential candidates were quick to join the chorus applauding the move, seizing on the opportunity to push for further personnel changes at the highest levels of the Trump administration.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also warned in a video posted to social media that Noem would still “be held accountable.”

“Hey, Kristi Noem, don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” he said. “Here’s your legacy: corruption and chaos, parents and children were teargassed. Moms and nurses, U.S. citizens, getting shot in the face. Now that you’re gone, don’t think you get to just walk away.”

Noem’s impending departure — Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social that she’ll soon become the inaugural “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas” — brings to a close a tumultuous yearlong stint at the agency. Trump also announced that he intends to tap Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace Noem atop the department.

Noem is the most senior administration official to depart thus far in Trump’s second term.

But Democrats were quick to signal they were not satisfied with her exit, swiftly calling for Trump to axe other Cabinet-level officials. Both House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) urged Trump to fire embattled Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), meanwhile, said Trump should cut loose Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. next. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also celebrated Noem’s ouster.

Noem came under bipartisan fire for her alleged relationship with Trump ally Corey Lewandowski, which she denies, and for labeling two Minnesota protesters killed by federal law enforcement in January “domestic terrorists.”

The former South Dakota governor also faced questions about a $220 million DHS ad campaign, testifying during a Tuesday congressional hearing that Trump approved the spending — a claim he later denied in an interview with Reuters.

“Time and time again, Secretary Noem failed the American people and her duty to the Constitution,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) wrote on X. “This was particularly true in how she oversaw ICE. Her departure demonstrates that if you don’t uphold the most basic American values, the American public wants you gone.”

Several Democratic lawmakers also indicated that Noem’s departure does not change their demands surrounding funding for DHS and for reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that ICE faces deeper problems that cannot be addressed with a single personnel change.

“The problems at ICE transcend any one individual. … It goes beyond any one person,” he said Thursday. “You need to straighten out the whole agency. The rot there is deep.”

Republicans, meanwhile, largely fell in lockstep behind Mullin — who said Thursday he was “excited about the opportunity” — and he will likely face a smooth confirmation process. Some Republican lawmakers acknowledged that a leadership shakeup at DHS was overdue.

“It was time for a change,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote in a social media post, while Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said the decision was “good for the president and his legacy on border and deportation.”

Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.