Bad Faith Episode 553 - AOC, Zohran & The Left's Labor Pains (w/ Kshama Sawant)
Feb 26, 2026
Kshama Sawant, former Seattle City Councilmember and socialist organizer running for Congress, returns to lay out strategy for rebuilding militant labor power. She critiques business unionism and establishment-friendly electeds. She discusses using electoral leverage, the Epstein file releases and power dynamics, and why bold tactics like strikes and civil disobedience are necessary.
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Hold Endorsements To Extract Policy Promises
- Elected left figures should use endorsement leverage to extract concrete commitments from establishment politicians.
- Sawant urges holding endorsements until Hochul promises to tax the rich, linking leverage to accountability.
Public Exposure Matters Because Courts Protect The Powerful
- Sawant rejects the idea that withholding public release of Epstein materials would enable accountability via courts.
- She argues capitalist institutions protect the powerful and public exposure is necessary even if prosecutions are unlikely.
Chomsky's Epstein Ties Reveal Gatekeeping Problem
- Sawant condemns Noam Chomsky's long association with Jeffrey Epstein as evidence of gatekeeping and a loss of touch with working-class accountability.
- She notes Chomsky's post-2008 ties and the moral failure of seeking elite access.