It was the perfect fairytale.
Twenty-eight-year-old Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a waitress from the Bronx, topples moderate machine politician. Her win was billed as a victory for the extreme left over the middle. Good versus evil. In reality, the victory was largely about low turnout and an opponent who not only didn’t campaign or take the election seriously but also didn’t live in the district.
But putting those inconvenient details aside, AOC had her fairy tale moment. Her favorite lipstick flew off shelves, her selfie videos went viral, and overnight she became the standard bearer for Democratic Socialism in America (that last part, it's worth noting, is only prized for a teeny tiny fraction of, mostly woke 18-25-year-olds, but nevertheless an accomplishment). The mere presence of the now 33-year-old sends Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer quaking. The far left can’t get enough of her, and the far right loves to hate her.
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Yes, AOC is a modern-day political fairy tale. And, so, it was vital that she have a fairy godmother, a ball, a carriage, and a dress. Enter Anna Wintour, the $35,000/ticket Met Gala, a $600 one-way car service, and a $2,300 “Tax the Rich” Aurora James rental designer outfit. When added up, AOC, the standard bearer for the Democratic Socialists of America, who decries capitalism by day, had an $80,000 fairy tale evening by night. That is, before she allegedly stiffed everyone involved on the bill.
Can you imagine where the Twitter outrage machine would be if the glass slipper was on the other foot?
AOC claimed she wanted to make a statement. But if that were true, why didn’t she ask a struggling student at one of New York City’s fashion institutions to sew her gown, take the subway to the event, do her own makeup, and ditch the fiancé to bring a minimum wage worker as her guest? Alternatively, she could have skipped it altogether and protested the concentration of wealth and gluttony on display from the other side of the red velvet rope.
Putting aside the very real questions around whether or not AOC might have violated House ethics rules and perhaps federal law by accepting gifts associated with the event, the revelations of the eye-popping figures associated with her fairy tale evening are the equivalent of the clock striking midnight. Is AOC truly the socialist crusader she presents herself to be? Or is she simply a media darling in search of celebrity?
In the spirit of transparency, I should disclose that in my former professional life—as secretary to former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo—I sparred with AOC on things like COVID and Amazon, while she and others criticized our administration, and the governor himself (and continue to do so), on issues big and small.
But this isn't about whether or not you subscribe to the virtues of AOC’s politics or my more moderate-leaning views. The truth is, AOC is hardly alone. Met Gala-Gate is just the latest in a string of situations in which politicians were caught with their pants down, leaving themselves open to criticism that they are phonies and reinforcing cynicism in politics and government.
While not all the same in terms of egregiousness, whether it’s Elise Stefanik trading in her BMW for a Ford F-150 to appear more in touch with her district, Kevin McCarthy privately telling his members Trump must go while publicly defending him, or the revelations that nearly everyone at Fox News… wait for it.. actually did know the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, despite telling the public otherwise, it seems everywhere you look these days you find more evidence that perception, as it turns out, is not necessarily fact reality.
It is unquestionable that we are living through a period defined by the atrophying of basic democratic institutions necessary for a functioning democracy. Nationally, people don’t trust the government or the media. Looking for proof? It’s in the numbers.
According to Pew Research Center, only 20 percent of Americans trust the government today; in 1964 that number was 77 percent. Layer that on top of Americans' fundamental distrust of mainstream media—trust that is so low that nearly half of Americans now believe that news organizations deliberately mislead them. And while 76 percent of Americans believe the media should strive to give equal coverage to all sides of an issue, an eye-popping 55 percent of journalists disagree. And we wonder why society is so polarized, cynical, and apathetic.
Taken together, we are in very dangerous territory.
This isn’t just about a socialist hobnobbing with the same people she purports to revile. Public trust is paramount to individual compliance with laws, ranging from paying taxes to adhering to vaccine requirements. It fosters political participation in elections and cultivates institutional legitimacy. And public trust in government is requisite to society taking on blockbuster challenges like once-in-a-century pandemics, climate change, and wars. That’s why it's incumbent on elected officials and the media to more seriously consider their individual impact on the collective and recalibrate accordingly.
At the time, AOC said she was attending the nation’s most exclusive gala to make a statement, “The medium is the message,” she said. “The time is now for childcare, healthcare, and climate action for all. Tax the Rich.” But in the end, the real takeaway from AOC’s $2,300 Met Gala outfit is that in politics, the emperor truly has no clothes.
