AOC’s ‘Tax The Rich’ Met Gala Dress Draws Poorly Thought Out Criticism

@aoc/Instagram, @benshapiro/Twitter

September 14, 2021, 7:14 am*

The Met Gala is always a fashion event to watch, bringing out talented designers, beloved celebrities, and almost inevitably some sort of drama and controversy each year.

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This year, when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed up in a dress that read “Tax the Rich,” we all knew exactly what controversy was on its way.

Conservatives and liberal critics of AOC alike were immediately up in arms about the outfit, calling the representative a hypocrite for wearing it at an exclusive event where she rubbed elbows with some of the very people she thinks should be paying higher taxes.

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“Tax the Rich”……But first I’m gonna go have the time of my life partying with them all at the most extravagant over the top party of the year that is essentially a celebration of richness. pic.twitter.com/ZkSUnRkqGs

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 14, 2021

Not an @aoc hater.
But come on, going to an event for super-rich with “tax the rich” written on your ass, won’t change a thing. It’s a stunt to justify her presence at an fancy shin-dig that doesn’t match her political persona.
She still looks better that Kim K in the bat outfit. pic.twitter.com/g4vi9Di53l

— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) September 14, 2021

AOC wanted to hang out with a bunch of rich celebs at a cool party without losing her socialist street cred so she tossed “Tax the Rich” on the back of her dress & called it a day. It’s not much more complicated than that.

— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) September 14, 2021

Some all but twisted themselves into knots trying to find things to criticize about the outfit, as is so often the case with literally anything Ocasio-Cortez does.

she wouldn’t owe tax. the person giving the gift pays tax, not the person receiving it.

this is the issue with the general public wanting to have a discussion on taxes, nobody understand a lick of it

— Doug Wilson (@dougie_fresh055) September 14, 2021

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So bringing a tax the rich message directly to where the rich are is…somehow bad?

— Brent Welsh (@brent_welsh) September 14, 2021

The amount of Republicans crying over a dress that AOC wore last night at the Met Gala is fucking hilarious! But quite as a church mouse when Melania wore a “I really don’t care, do you?” jacket! pic.twitter.com/9MGOTxp9uV

— Jarett & Lilly vs EVERYTHING (@JLVsTW1) September 14, 2021

And she’s all for getting taxed. Where has she said that she wanted to be exempted from that?

— Spectre (@Da_Sargeant) September 14, 2021

More offensive than the hypocrisy is the frivolity. A rich woman wore a “Tax The Rich” dress to a lavish party—and we must pretend these clowns define our politics when in fact such “bread and circus” battles mean little for how we’re actually governed. pic.twitter.com/5cmxtnjFfI

— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) September 14, 2021

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AOC herself had a few things to say about the dress, her decision to make such a bold statement, and the inevitable backlash.

And before haters get wild flying off the handle, New York elected officials are routinely invited to and attend the Met due to our responsibilities in overseeing and supporting the city’s cultural institutions for the public. I was one of several in attendance in this evening.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 14, 2021

While understanding the thought process behind AOC’s decision isn’t exactly rocket science, people still tried to explain it to those who refused to understand.

2) she didn’t pay for the dress either, but borrowed it from an up and coming Brooklyn designer, Brother Vellies

3) I bet some of the very rich people in attendance got super mad, and that is very funny to me

— Louisa (@LouisatheLast) September 14, 2021

There’s also just something about the Met Gala…I know it’s rich people bullshit, but so is every gala. We just had the VMAs, which is also rich people in fancy clothes. Unlike awards shows the Met Gala actually helps fund the Costume Institute, which is a museum

— Louisa (@LouisatheLast) September 14, 2021

On one hand, y’all say you want AOC to do more within a broken white supremacist, capitalist, and patriarchal system.

On the other hand, y’all don’t want her to try and find ways to infiltrate that system. American politics are driven by money and influence, that’s the truth.

— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) September 14, 2021

Also, she went with a message of taxing the rich in a room filled with rich people.

Why not attack politicians who are doing NOTHING? People would rather eat those they are in proximity to than those causing the most harm.

— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) September 14, 2021

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Y’all will critique AOC for existing within systems she has tried to shed light on and proposed policy to help dismantle — while y’all do little yourselves to help end them.

Twitter convos are not going to help AOC, nor the purity that y’all don’t even adhere to.

— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) September 14, 2021

Conservatives can’t rebut most left-wing arguments, so they try to ignore our arguments by finding some way to attack the person making the argument. That’s what is happening here.

We win by ignoring their personal attacks and reiterating the winning arguments we have.

— KnowNothing (@KnowNothingTV) September 14, 2021

But at the end of the day, regardless of backlash, AOC’s dress certainly got people talking.

Everyone is talking about “Tax The Rich” because of AOC’s stunt at a gala full of the people she was targeting, where she was invited for free in a free dress… to back up her actual legitimate work on this issue in Congress, and you’re all angry/confused as to why she did it? pic.twitter.com/yQZpnYfVtE

— Jameela Jamil (@jameelajamil) September 14, 2021

And calling her a hypocrite!

She walked into a room of super wealthy people with a dress that said I’m coming for some of that money.

Seems like the exact place to do it.

I remember when they enjoyed the lady who wore her politics on dresses to award shows. pic.twitter.com/O8xXKv45Xj

— your ideal mom (@youridealmom) September 14, 2021

Which, you know, was the whole point.

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*First Published: September 14, 2021, 7:13 am