This is a tale of two tweets. The first is by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who is expected to be elected to Congress from Queens this November. Following the death of Sen. John McCain, she tweeted that his “legacy represents an unparalleled example of human decency and American service. … He meant so much, to so many.”
The next day, Kshama Sawant issued her evaluation of McCain. A two-term Seattle City Council member and leader of the Socialist Alternative Party, Sawant said, “An enthusiastic supporter of every imperialist war while in office, John McCain shares responsibility for hundreds of thousands of deaths. To whitewash that is to disrespect those who died in Iraq, Afghanistan, elsewhere … Not to mention the countless working people’s lives damaged by McCain’s support, as a Senator, for brutal neoliberal social and economic policies in the United States.”
Ocasio-Cortez sparked criticism on the left as her comments come across as pandering to neoliberal and neoconservative elites. Sawant was praised by many while barely causing a ripple in the media as she often makes provocative statements from a left perspective.
Since her stunning victory over an old-style party boss in June, Ocasio-Cortez has become the most prominent standard-bearer of socialism in America besides Bernie Sanders. But with the media glare comes controversy. Even before her clumsy appraisal of McCain, the Left bashed Ocasio-Cortez for…