A debate over whether left-wing candidates should apologize for their 2020-era "defund the police" and "woke" positions, framed as a fight over accountability on the American left.

• It's election day in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Carolina, with several DSA-backed progressive candidates on the ballot.
• AOC brushed off old radical statements from candidates like Francesca Hong, saying "woke one was crazy" and that these are local races where candidates can present their current views.
• Critics on the right call this a cop-out — arguing candidates who backed defunding police or canceling Thanksgiving should either own those positions or clearly apologize, as Zohran Mamdani did.
• The left's response: this shows new pragmatism, since progressives now have a real shot at power and have to govern and win broader support, not just post hot takes.
• The counter-argument points to a "woke two" under Trump — deportations, arrests, and using accusations of antisemitism to crush dissent — as a bigger current threat.

Outlook: Expect progressive candidates to keep softening their old rhetoric as they chase electoral wins, while the fight over accountability for the 2020 era stays unresolved.