AOC, Mamdani Abandon Police Defund Stance as NYPD Funding Debate Centers on $11 Billion
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 13
AOC, Mamdani Abandon Police Defund Stance as NYPD Funding Debate Centers on $11 Billion
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 13
Summary
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she and other progressives had "moved away" from pandemic-era police and prison abolition rhetoric, calling that period's language something they would not use today.
Zohran Mamdani echoed that shift days later, saying he no longer supports defunding police and that public safety requires working with the NYPD alongside other partners.
The retreat comes despite Mamdani's earlier reversal on a plan to add nearly 600 officers and $70 million to the NYPD after pressure from Democratic Socialists of America activists.
Critics on the left argue the repositioning treats the 2020 defund movement as disposable rhetoric while leaving intact New York's roughly $11 billion police budget.
The dispute highlights a broader tension for progressive Democrats: how to widen electoral appeal without disowning the activist movements that helped elevate them.