Progressives lash out at centrist Democrats blaming far-left policies for their election failures

Progressive far-left Democrats lashed out against centrist establishment Democrats for blaming socialist political platforms and "defund the police" efforts for their 2020 electoral failures.

The progressive groups drafted a memo scolding Democrats for scapegoating their movement. The retort, drafted by groups including the Justice Democrats, the Sunrise Movement, and Data for Progress, was a direct rebuttal against the claims by Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and others in an emotional private caucus phone conference.

"Republican attacks levied at Democrats this cycle based on terms like 'defund the police' or 'socialism' have become scapegoats for Representatives like Abigail Spanberger, Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), and other senior Democrats," said the memo, according to Politico.

"Not a single Democrat — progressive or otherwise — argued that Democrats should run primarily on these themes," the groups claimed. "These attacks will never go away, nor will demands for reform from social movements. The attacks are designed to stoke racial resentment."

Spanberger specifically blamed the progressive policies for Democratic losses.

"We need to not ever use the words socialist or socialism ever again," Spanberger said. "If we run this race again we will get f***ing torn apart again in 2022."

Among those lashing out were progressive socialist Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

"We're not going to be successful if we're silencing districts like mine," said Tlaib. "Me not being able to speak on behalf of many of my neighbors right now, many of which are black neighbors, means me being silenced. I can't be silent."

Ocasio-Cortez voiced similar frustrations.

"It's not just like some moral question about how you confront racism in elections, but it is now an existential crisis for the Democratic Party," complained Ocasio-Cortez. "Anti-racism plays zero percent of a role in Democratic electoral strategy — zero, explicitly, implicitly. I'm not telling people to virtue signal, but there's just like no plan for it."