"Taxes the rich": Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends her choice of clothes at the Met Gala

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Politician Ocasio-Cortez and designer James at the Met Gala

Photo: JUSTIN LANE / EPA

She must have guessed that her dress would cause mixed reactions. Democratic MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a guest at the Met Gala at New York's Metropolitan Museum on Monday night. The donation event for the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum is one of the fashion highlights of the year, every year numerous celebrities come to the exclusive event hosted by Anna Wintour, the outfits are seldom more spectacular than on this red carpet, the tickets cost US media reports according to around $ 30,000.

The Met Gala had to pause for two years due to corona, and on Monday it could finally take place again. And this time: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC for short. The left-wing politician wore a white strapless dress by designer Aurora James. And mostly AOC turned their backs to the photographers on the red carpet so that they could take a picture of the back of their dress. There, in bright red capital letters, was emblazoned »Tax the Rich«, translated as »Taxes the Rich«.

It didn't take long for the first critics to speak out.

If AOC hates the rich so much, "why is it going to an event that only the wealthiest people in America can afford to attend?" Asked author David Hookstead, for example.

The chief fashion critic of the "New York Times", Vanessa Friedman, said it was a "complicated statement" if Ocasio-Cortez made such a request at such a luxury event in a designer robe.

Other users on social media accused the politician of being a hypocrite.

Fans of the politician, on the other hand, hailed the choice of clothes in social networks as "iconic" and AOC herself as the heroine who had put an important political message in the spotlight.

31-year-old Ocasio-Cortez justified her choice of clothes via Instagram.

"The medium is the message," she wrote about a photo that she shows together with designer James.

Politicians in New York are regularly invited to attend the Met Gala as part of their job of overseeing the city's cultural institutions.

She was one of several MPs who accepted the invitation.

Her dress is also on loan.

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