AOC Walks Off Rally Stage Early to Avoid Potentially Damaging Photo
During a rally in Michigan, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was observed leaving early to avoid being photographed with a controversial candidate, William Lawrence, whose past remarks criticizing black Democratic leaders have sparked backlash. Critics believe her departure was intentional to distance herself from Lawrence ahead of the 2028 presidential election and to maintain support from the Black community. Lawrence had previously made provocative comments about Black political leaders and later issued a public apology for his past statements.Meanwhile, some on the left consider Ocasio-Cortez a potential presidential candidate, with figures like Zohran Mamdani supporting her, although established strategists like James Carville doubt her chances due to political considerations, especially among Black voters.
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reportedly left the stage early during a rally Sunday evening to avoid being seen with a controversial Michigan congressional candidate.
Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Michigan this weekend for what Politico described as “a three-city swing” on behalf of Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and controversial Michigan congressional candidate William Lawrence.
But after taking the stage in Lansing on Sunday to promote the two men, she avoided even uttering Lawrence’s name, according to David Sivak of the DC Examiner.
Then after the rally, she took off early and skipped what Politico described as a “hand-hoisting curtain-call photo-op” with Sen. Bernie Sanders, El-Sayed, and Lawrence.
👀 Notable at today’s El Sayed rally in Lansing: AOC didn’t mention William Lawrence once in her remarks and stepped offstage before Lawrence locked hands with El Sayed and Sanders at the end.
Lawrence, a progressive running for Tom Barrett’s House seat, has come under fire from…
— David Sivak (@DISivak) July 19, 2026
The lawmaker’s critics and observers strongly suspect her snubbing of Lawrence was intentional. Lawrence, a progressive, has faced heavy backlash for having dared years earlier to criticize black U.S. political leaders, the majority of whom are Democrats.
According to HuffPost, he made the controversial remarks during a 2024 recording of his podcast, Hegemonicon.
“The extent to which the older generation of black political leadership are such a pillar, frankly, for establishment, capitalist, imperialist American power through their role as this kind of traditionalist, establishment-ist pillar of the Democratic Party, it’s a big problem,” he said at the time.
“It’s a big problem for left politics in this country. And it gets us every single time. It really defangs the white left and puts us in impossible positions, really,” he added.
The remarks recently went mega-viral, prompting outrage from black leftists. Lawrence subsequently published a post to the social media app X on July 11 expressing regret for his previous remarks:
I want to address a comment of mine from two years ago that was reported today in the Huffington Post and has raised some concern. My words are being taken out of context and weaponized by my political opponents, and I want to set the record straight.
In 2024 I hosted a podcast…
— William Lawrence (@WeWill2026) July 11, 2026
Ocasio-Cortez’s observers and critics suspect she purposefully distanced herself from Lawrence so as to not lose support from the black community going into 2028, a presidential election year.
All this comes at a time when many on the left, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, are either directly calling for the lawmaker to run for president or expressing support for her potential candidacy.
Zohran Mamdani thinks that his comrade, AOC, would make a good President:
“We all have to take a step back and appreciate what it is that she means to so many across this country… I think she would make a good anything…she’s a great Congresswoman.” pic.twitter.com/lfysnQPwYs
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 18, 2026
Longtime Democratic Party strategist James Carville is a rare exception, according to the New York Post.
“I think AOC is remarkably talented, let me be very clear about that,” Carville said Thursday on the “Greta Wire” podcast. “Her staff work is pristine. But she’s not gonna run for president because she’s not gonna have any chance.”
The belief among her critics is that she’s especially “not gonna have any chance” if she gets off on the wrong foot with black voters.
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