AOC: Whoa, Progressives, Let’s Not Primary Dem Leaders!

So says the woman who [checks notes] reportedly plans to launch a primary campaign against Chuck Schumer in the 2028 cycle. But we are getting ahead of ourselves …

Yesterday, a member of the New York City council tossed his hat into the ring – not to challenge Shutdown Chuck three years from now, but to go after “Brooklyn’s Barack,” as Democrat fundraisers called Hakeem Jeffries twelve years ago while seeking donations from one Jeffrey Epstein. Chi Ossé slammed Jeffries for the outcome of the Schumer Shutdown, ripped current Democrat leadership for its failures against Donald Trump, and rebuked Jeffries for not endorsing Zohran Mamdani in a timely manner. The moment is “dire,” Ossé posted on Twitter/X:

New York City councilmember Chi Ossé appeared to confirm he would challenge House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for his seat representing New York’s 8th congressional district in an X post on Monday. …

“The Democratic Party’s leadership is not only failing to effectively fight back against Donald Trump, they have also failed to deliver a vision that we can all believe in,” Ossé, who recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America, said in a statement to Axios.

“These failures are some of the many reasons why I am currently exploring a potential run for New York’s 8th Congressional District,” he told the outlet.

So far, this is pretty much the Democratic Socialist/radical Left party line since the collapse of the shutdown. In fact, that has been the radical party line since March, when Schumer refused to create a shutdown as a stupid and pointless gesture. The radicals argue that Schumer either lost his nerve or lost control of his caucus and folded on a winning hand … all evidence to the contrary. For the past week, the hard Left has demanded that Schumer step down from leadership, and one of the few figures willing to defend Schumer has been Hakeem Jeffries. 

That makes Jeffries part of the problem, no? Apparently not. Suddenly, the DSA contingent doesn’t want to make waves with Democrat leadership, and that includes Mamdani himself:

Ossé is floating a challenge without the complete and total blessing from progressives. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s team has reportedly been attempting to discourage Ossé from running, and Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement that “it is not the right moment to launch a primary challenge to Hakeem Jeffries.”

Er … why not? Schumer didn’t run the shutdown on his own, after all. Jeffries is part of the same, ineffectual leadership that radicals accuse of wasting opportunities to truly stop Orange Man Bad. Both Schumer and Jeffries failed to take back control of their chambers in 2024 despite the expectations from the DSA contingent that the last elections would carry them to victory. 

Until now, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has put herself at the point of the radical-mob spear. Six days ago, Ocasio-Cortez blasted Senate Democrats and their leadership as a “reflection” of their lousy performance in the shutdown. She deflected when it came to Schumer specifically, but she demanded changes nonetheless:

“I think what is so important for folks to understand is that this problem is bigger than one person, and it actually is bigger than the minority leader in the Senate,” Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 36, told reporters Wednesday when asked if Senate Democrats should chuck Schumer (D-NY), 74, as their leader.

“You had eight Senate Democrats who coordinated their own votes on this,” she continued. “A leader is a reflection of the party, and Senate Democrats have selected their leadership to represent them. And so the question needs to be bigger than just one person.”

However, AOC balked at applying that same standard to Jeffries. She told Axios that the timing just isn’t right:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) signaled in an interview with Axios on Monday that she would not support New York City Council member Chi Ossé in a primary challenge against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

Why it matters: Ocasio-Cortez is one of several high-profile progressives distancing from Ossé’s potential run, arguing that it is a distraction from New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory. …

Ocasio-Cortez told Axios during a brief interview at the U.S. Capitol that she was “not aware” that Ossé was challenging Jeffries.

• “But,” she added, “I certainly don’t think a primary challenge to the leader is a good idea right now.”

Er … why not? Jeffries failed just as much as Schumer did. Jeffries is endorsing Schumer after the shutdown collapse. Jeffries is up for re-election in 2026, just like every other House member, so the “timing” works even better if the DSA wants accountability for the failures of Democrat leadership. If anything, the timing is more propitious for holding Jeffries accountable than it is for Schumer. 

So what gives? Clearly not the shutdown, which the radicals bullied Schumer into triggering despite his earlier warnings about the futility of the move.Schumer has pushed the Senate Democrats to the Left and to mindless obstructionism in Trump’s two terms, but not far enough Left and not obstructive enough for the radicals. However, these smell like pretenses for other grudges against Schumer, most likely Schumer’s support for Israel in the war that Hamas started with the October 7 massacres. AOC and the DSA contingent likely see Jeffries as more of an ally on all these issues than Schumer – and they are almost certainly correct. 

Schumer should watch his back. And maybe he should watch Jeffries as well. 

Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.

Help us continue exposing Democrats’ plans to lead America down a dangerous path. Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership!