Inside the socialists' civil war over AOC and 2028

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's potential run for president has exposed long-simmering divisions within the Democratic Socialists of America.

Why it matters: The socialism movement's leaders are increasingly at odds over who should speak for them, what policies they stand for — and whether to support AOC, whom some dismiss as more establishment than insurgent.

Driving the news: Political success brings scrutiny, and some DSA members and strategists who work with the group don't think its current leadership is ready for prime time ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.

• "We're not in a book club anymore," said one strategist who works with the DSA. "You could be growing this organization by pointing to AOC, Bernie [Sanders], [Zohran] Mamdani — and instead they are going on cable news talking about abolishing the Senate, Fidel Castro and other weird stuff. It's a blown opportunity."
• "The ways that we operated in the past are now making headlines in ways that we didn't expect," Priscilla Yeverino, the DSA's communications director, acknowledged in an interview with Axios.
• "Our leaders aren't politicians," Yeverino added. "They're working-class people and new to doing media. It's been a learning experience, and they are listening to our members' feedback."

The DSA's critics point to several unforced errors made just when the group has been having more success in primaries than it's ever had:

1. In July, the national DSA published a "Workers Deserve More" platform that laid out the group's political vision, including several controversial proposals such as abolishing the Senate, defunding the Department of Defense, and working toward "fully abolishing the police and prison system."

• Many DSA and DSA-friendly politicians were caught off-guard by the new agenda, and several — including AOC — quickly distanced themselves from the group.

2. Megan Romer, a national DSA co-chair, had trouble articulating her organization's positions in a podcast interview with the New Yorker's David Remnick.

• When Romer dodged a question on what she meant by "taxing the hell" out of the rich and powerful, Remnick pushed: "If you're the co-chair of the DSA, shouldn't you be more specific than 'taxing the hell' out of something? What exactly do you mean?"
• Romer appeared to be caught off guard and replied, "That's a good question" before trying to answer further.
• When Remnick asked if Romer would have her concerns about Israel and Gaza satisfied with the 2000 Camp David Summit proposal, Romer said: "I need to look at what the actual specifics there were, I don't know them off the top of my head."

3. In August, the national DSA issued a statement commemorating the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and condemning the Trump administration's "genocide" of the Cuban people.

• "Fidel was an organizer, a fighter, and endures as a stalwart symbol of anti-imperialist struggle and self-determination for the Global South," the DSA wrote.
• Ashik Siddique, the other national DSA co-chair, then struggled to defend the Castro regime in an interview with CNN.

The intrigue: AOC's potential presidential campaign has also prompted more drama within the DSA.

• She was the focus of internal fights this summer when the national DSA voted to keep more control of the group's 2028 endorsement process, which some local chapters saw as an attempt to stop a quick AOC endorsement.
• 🗽 The New York City DSA chapter openly protested the national group's move, with DSA NYC co-chair Gustavo Gordillo posting that "DSA's national leadership … just voted to overturn our convention."

AOC also has distanced herself from the national DSA group.

• Asked by ABC about some of the national DSA's proposals, Ocasio-Cortez made clear she wasn't a member of the national group — only the chapter in her native New York City.

Zoom in: The DSA also includes ideologues who likely will fuel further rifts within the group going into 2028.

• The DSA's Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Caucus, for example, posted a letter recently saying it "rejects any effort to present [AOC] as the future presidential standard-bearer for DSA, or for the broader socialist movement."
• The group continued: "AOC's record demonstrates a consistent pattern of opportunism."

Longtime DSA members acknowledge there have been growing pains, but say that a record number of people are joining the group.

• They also argue that socialists have always been factional and often disagree — sometimes passionately.
• Mamdani, the democratic socialist and New York City mayor, has had disagreements with the DSA but recently told ABC: "I'm not interested in writing a manifesto or, frankly, in reading one. I'm interested in delivering, and that's exactly what we've been showing."