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AOC And The Squad Didn’t Really Care For Obama’s ‘Defund The Police’ Criticism

Former President Barack Obama kicked off a firestorm after voicing his criticism of the controversial “Defund the Police” slogan. Obama made the remarks on Peter Hambly’s Snapchat political show, “Good Luck America,” and they published in advance on Monday evening, which led to intense blowback on social media. While speaking to Hambly, Obama shared his support for necessary police reform, but he took issue with how the messaging alienated voters, which he says will hamper the chances of enacting said reforms. Via Mediaite:

“If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it’s not biased, and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘Defund the Police,’ but you know you’ve lost a big audience the minute you say it. Which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done.”

While Obama’s pragmatic approach to policy reform might sound reasonable, it didn’t sit well with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the members of “The Squad.” All four members fired off tweets that took Obama to task for his criticism, but AOC went particularly deep on the separation between “activists” and “politicians.”

While AOC waited until Tuesday to deliver her remarks, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib were quick to push back on Obama within hours of his “Defund the Police” criticism being published.

The argument over messaging is, of course, part of a much larger battle between “moderate” and “progressive” members of the Democratic Party, which has intensified after Joe Biden won the presidential election. While both groups strive for the same goals, there are fundamental differences over how to achieve them. There is also a generational divide to contend with as younger members of the party advocate for more aggressive reforms at an accelerated pace. In short, the Dems are in for some fun during the Biden administration.