Curtis Sliwa slams AOC, vows to rally moderate Dems

Guardian Angels founder and former Big Apple mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa slammed socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s bizarre comments comparing a Queen’s neighborhood to communist China — as he vowed to unite the GOP with moderate Democrats against the progressive agenda.

“I was just in Astoria where [AOC] announced just last week, in Queens – the home of Tony Bennett, the Astoria kid – that ‘we are the People’s Republic of Astoria’” Sliwa, 69, told Sean Hannity disbelievingly on Tuesday.

Sliwa was referring to the progressive lawmaker’s speech during a rally last week, where she referred to the neighborhood by the eyebrow-raising moniker.

In January, Ocasio-Cortez, 33, also lauded newly-elected state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez as the “last Infinity Stone to the People’s Republic to Astoria…with [Democratic Socialists of America] elected at every level of office.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on her words.

When pressed by Hannity on the ongoing crime panic in several major cities, Sliwa said the key to law and order was to “go at AOC and the socialists who hide behind being Democrats.” 

“They want to remove the police, remove prisons,” the former New York City mayoral candidate scoffed.

Ocasio-Cortez has been loudly critical of the police and has supported defunding the NYPD.

She has, however, supported several congressional bills aimed at improving public safety, including the Stand Up to Violence program at Jacobi Hospital.

To counter the progressive approach to law and order, Sliwa boasted that he had organized “Ronald Reagan Republican clubs” and was enlisting serious candidates to challenge AOC and other socialist lawmakers.

“[I’m] bringing in moderate Democrats and independents and sharing with them this vision that, without public safety, there can be no improvements in quality of life,” he said.

“And that’s how you defeat the socialists, because we need to teach the moderate Democrats to take their party back.”

Sliwa also accused AOC and her allies of having “hijacked” the Democratic Party, which currently holds a 45-6 supermajority in New York’s city council.

City Republicans are also clinging to just one US congressional seat, which is held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis in Staten Island and Bay Ridge.

Due to redistricting, George Santos (R-NY) of Nassau County also oversees a small portion of northeast Queens.

During his appearance on “Hannity,” Sliwa also pointed to Chicago as an example of what happens when moderate voters fail to unite against ideas that are perceived as more extreme.

“Look, [Mayor-elect Brandon] Johnson won in Chicago because Bernie Sanders and AOC ‘All-Out-Crazy’ came in there and helped him,” he lamented. 

“Where were the moderates helping the moderate who had won the [general pre-runoff] election – Paul Vallos? They were missing in action.”

Sliwa then circled back to Ronald Reagan, who he claims swiftly defeated Walter Mondale in 1984 by linking Republicans and moderate Democrats.

“There are good Democrats out there, they have to be empowered,” he insisted.