X Led Politicians and Journalists to Create "Woke 1"
Why are politicians and journalists pushing this?
"I have a local city councilman that has this saying, 'Woke 1 was crazy.'"
In an interview on ABC News, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said these words to explain how Wisconsin progressive candidate for governor Francesca Hong moved away from positions of "defund the police." Immediately after AOC quoted Chi Ossé, ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl asked "Did the movement go too far with those positions?" Ocasio-Cortez justifies the rhetoric in the context of COVID-19, saying the discussions were "fruitful." The closest she gets to reaching a point is when she concludes "Rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric we would use today." Hong went on to lose the Wisconsin primary race to a moderate Democrat.
Following this interview, and the immediate right-wing mediasphere backlash, a journalist from Gothamist asked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani about his position on "Defund the Police" in the context of Ocasio-Cortez's interview. Pointedly asking "Do you think Woke 1 was crazy?" Mamdani responds "I do not believe in defunding the police. I will not defund the police."
Before moving further, it's important to note that, since 2022, US police have killed more people than they killed in 2020, the year of the George Floyd Uprising. The only exception was in 2021, where only 16 fewer people were killed by police. Defunding the police has largely not occurred. In US cities, police budgets surged by 2022. In one example, the Austin Police Department received approval for record-high funding in 2025, reaching $476.5 million.
The comment by Ossé, in particular, is an asinine response to an even more asinine post. A critic commented "Did you get a new personality?" in reference to Ossé's June 30, 2021 post "A cis white man should not be the next speaker of the Council." Ossé replied "Woke 1 was crazyyyy." Besides the fact that this exchange is empty of any and all substance, that didn't prevent it from becoming a lynchpin in the culture cycle.
To be clear,"woke 1" doesn't actually mean anything. Set against the obviously dishonest campaign of right-wing culture warriors, movies and cultural output continue to be the subject of ire and dissection of what is "woke." The Odyssey was subject to a mass racism and hate campaign, led by white nationalist billionaire Elon Musk, for casting a Black woman and a trans man. In response, even the positive discussion in the media revolves around the movie's "woke" credentials.
As this newsletter has covered before, Musk and X are a scourge on the world, pushing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and fascism to its users. With the help of this platform the mass campaign by the right-wing of US politics has cemented its version of events around "woke," where opportunistic politicians are now using the same framing. An issue created entirely through grievance politics of racists and fascists has become accepted by opportunistic left-liberals hoping to squeeze every last drop of electoral viability from it. News media is happily playing along, with outlets like The New York Times and CNN running pieces seriously examining the "woke 1" period.
Scott Martin
Not only is this "woke" framing a mainstay in modern US political life, it's now become an accepted question to ask powerful politicians. While being tongue-in-cheek, the Gothamist journalist actually asked Mamdani the question like it were worthy of being asked. In response, Mamdani decided to reject the concept of defunding police out of hand. Investigative journalism outlet ProPublic has done excellent work covering the systemic injustices perpetrated by the NYPD under Eric Adams. These issues are not disappearing, but Mamdani commits to entwining the NYPD further with public safety, all in response to a question that necessarily includes a wink and a nod.
In truth, here lies the political utility of "woke 1" or whatever. It serves as a decoy to focus ire and attention on. The issue is not that politicians were overzealous with a call to give police less money. The issue was, and remains, that extreme police budgets allow abuses that lead to the deaths of people like Philando Castile, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. But with "woke 1" being introduced into the news by X-brained politicians, it's continued relevance is now extended thanks to X-brained journalists.
It's clear that the "woke 1" comment was a jokey question. The entire concept is a silly idea dreamed up by people who willingly log into the CSAM fascist blogging site to joke with their friends. But the introduction of the concept into the media sphere was happily latched onto by journalists, who are pushing the narrative that "Defund the police" went too far. Nominally progressive politicians are pushing this as well. Instead of clarifying the material demands people had in the response to police murders across the country, they've been lumped into the same discussion about the quality of a movie that features a trans man and Black woman. These are now the same issues.
It's hard to imagine this discourse being brought to the national stage without the fundamental role X clearly plays in the lives of everyone involved. The critique was posted on X, responded to on X, mentioned by a politician that routinely engages on X, covered by grievance purveyors in the right-wing sphere married to X and meditated on by other journalists who spend their time on X. Elon Musk has taken over their minds. It raises the question of how deep this dynamic has taken route in the news ecosystem. If "woke 1" is any indication, I'd guess it's pretty fundamental to their outlook.
