Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused some of her Democratic colleagues of hypocrisy over how the party handled President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, saying the same people who later pushed Biden out of the race had earlier worked to shut down any serious primary challenge.
In an interview released on the progressive podcast «The Majority Report», the New York Democrat said the party's failure to hold a real presidential primary damaged its credibility on questions of democracy. Host Emma Vigeland asked Ocasio-Cortez how Democrats could claim to defend democratic norms while sidelining voters, pointing to discontent over the war in Gaza and Biden's decision to seek a second term without facing meaningful competition.
«When Kamala Harris was going around and talking about democracy with a banner behind her, they didn't have the credibility that they needed to fight this fascist threat», Vigeland said.
Ocasio-Cortez responded by targeting Democrats who had been most vocal in demanding Biden's exit after his weak debate performance in June 2024. She argued that some of those same figures had previously resisted calls for a primary process in the 2024 presidential election.
«What I find very interesting about that moment and the people who talk about that time is that I think that some, not all, but some of the Democrats that are most aggressive about getting their narrative out about how they wanted to push Biden out were also the same Democrats that were most aggressive about closing the wagons on a primary process when we had a chance to have that in a presidential election», Ocasio-Cortez said.
She suggested that those Democrats were now trying to distance themselves from a decision to stand behind Biden when the president was still gearing up for re-election. In her view, demanding that Biden step down had turned into a kind of loyalty test within the party.
«I feel like a lot of them are compensating», she said. «You hear sometimes, there's like these consultant class and some of these folks that want, you know, who backed Biden when it was time to step down, as like some sort of litmus test. But those folks were part of the establishment that were closing the ranks around Biden when before a primary process would have even started.»
The congresswoman said Democrats had seen how unpopular their position had become and were now rushing to create distance from it.
«They saw at the end how unpopular their actions, you know, the conclusion that their actions had led to and how unpopular it was. So then it became a race to distance themselves from it», she added.
Ocasio-Cortez's comments mark a notable shift in tone from her stance during the 2024 campaign. At the time, she was one of Biden's most prominent defenders and resisted pressure from within her party for him to abandon his re-election bid. Even as calls for Biden to withdraw intensified after the June debate, she warned that replacing him could carry serious risks.
«If you 10,000% are super convinced that the candidate, or president, cannot beat Donald Trump, then do what you think is in your good conscience. But I have not seen an alternative scenario that, I feel, does not set us up for enormous peril», she said at the time.
Biden ultimately ended his re-election campaign in July 2024, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the party's ticket.
The lack of a competitive primary in 2024 has remained a sore point for some Democrats. Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota did mount a challenge to Biden, but his campaign was widely viewed as a long shot and failed to win any contests. In a May 2025 op-ed, Phillips wrote that his bid was met with strong pushback from Democratic leadership. He claimed that after he made a courtesy call to inform House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of his plans, Jeffries' chief of staff told him he would not be speaking to Biden or anyone else in the White House.
Jonathan Alter, who was cited in the podcast discussion, said voter trust could erode quickly once people conclude that political elites apply different rules to their own side. «People can forgive mistakes», he said. «They're far less forgiving when they believe one set of rules applies to political opponents and another applies to those in power. Once that perception takes hold, trust erodes quickly.»
The episode reflects continuing tensions inside the Democratic Party after the 2024 campaign. Progressives led by Ocasio-Cortez have repeatedly argued that the party's leadership failed to listen to its base, while establishment figures defend their decisions as pragmatic efforts to protect Democratic priorities under intense political pressure.
