Democratic Socialists of America withdraws conditional endorsement of Ocasio-Cortez

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) withdrew its conditional endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) after it said she is not supportive enough of the Palestinian efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war.

In a memo Wednesday, the DSA credited Ocasio-Cortez for her “courageous positions on Palestine” but took issue with some of her recent moves, including her panel with leaders from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs who the group said are lobbyists for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.

“This sponsorship is a deep betrayal to all those who’ve risked their welfare to fight Israeli apartheid and genocide through political and direct action in recent months, and in decades past,” the DSA said in its statement.

Ocasio-Cortez, once seen as one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken progressives, has now been criticized by those who want the war in Gaza to end over her support for President Biden and his funding for Israel.

In June, the DSA’s National Political Committee voted to endorse Ocasio-Cortez so long as she publicly opposed all funding to Israel, participated in the DSA committee, publicly opposed criminalization of anti-Zionism and publicly supported efforts to end Israeli settler-colonialism.

The group said thousands of its members have provided input about the prospect of a national endorsement of the New York congresswoman.

The DSA said its members supported endorsing her because of her “many courageous positions on Palestine” but also wish Ocasio-Cortez would demonstrate a “higher level of commitment to Palestinian liberation” and the more than 38,000 Palestinians killed by the ongoing war in Gaza.

“A national DSA endorsement comes with a serious commitment to the movement for Palestine and our collective socialist project,” the DSA said, adding, “To build a socialist movement that’s capable of defeating capitalism, we must demand more from leaders in our movement.”

The DSA said its national political committee “received a request from NYC-DSA SC to withdraw the endorsement” for Ocasio-Cortez earlier this week.

“Because we have not seen evidence of AOC meeting these conditions, and at the request of the NYC-DSA SC, the NPC is withdrawing our conditional endorsement of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, although she will remain endorsed by our New York City chapter,” the group wrote.

Ocasio-Cortez defeated former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), a 10-term incumbent in the 2018 Democratic primary. She was 28 at the time and became the youngest woman and the first female member of the DSA to be elected to Congress, alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

The Hill has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez for comment.