Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) campaign is promoting “Tax The Rich” merchandise from her campaign store following her stunt at the Met Gala last week.
Team AOC “launched an email campaign Tuesday night offering up a policy paper” and re-upping her “‘Tax the Rich’ merchandise pitch,” according to the Boston Herald. The line first launched in December 2020.
“Whether the message is on a sweatshirt or something more formal, the facts are the same,” Team AOC said in its email to supporters, promoting the line. “In order to reshape our economy and make it work for all of us — not just those who can self-fund their trips to space — we absolutely must Tax the Rich.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s team decided to promote the “Tax The Rich Collection” after she wore a dress to the Met Gala emblazoned with the message “Tax The Rich.” While Ocasio-Cortez insisted that the dress was a message to the attendees of the Met Gala, the self-described democratic socialist received heavy criticism for seemingly hobnobbing with the class of people she claimed to be against.
According to her campaign website, Ocasio-Cortez’s “Tax The Rich” line has six products: a sweatshirt for $58, a tee-shirt for $27, a “dad hat” for $28, a sticker pack for $10, a mug for $27, and a tote bag for $27.
At the Met, Ocasio-Cortez said her dress was a statement for the “working class.”
“We really started having a conversation about what it means to be a working-class woman of color at the Met,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters at the event. “We can’t just play along, but we need to break the fourth wall.”
On Tuesday, a day after the Met Gala, Ocasio-Cortez took to social media to defend her appearance at the event after being accused of celebrating with the elite class she claimed to be speaking against. As The Daily Wire reported:
Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) tried to defend herself online after she was swarmed with criticism for wearing an emblazoned “Tax the Rich” dress to the Met Gala, where tables could reportedly cost more than $275,000 and individual tickets are priced at around $30,000.
AOC scolded “haters” about the criticism and contended that going to the fancy event with rich elites was actually her just doing her job as a congresswoman in New York City.
“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,” the representative wrote via Twitter. “I was one of several in attendance in this evening.”
In the same Twitter thread, Ocasio-Cortez rationalized that the “medium is the message” and emphasized that her designer is a “Black woman immigrant designer.”
“The medium is the message,” read a screen-capped image from AOC’s Instagram account.
Ocasio-Cortez’s dress for the event was valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Her accessories, including gold hoop earrings and designer shoes, were valued at hundreds of dollars each.
“The ‘Tax the Rich’ dress designed by Aurora James was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Daily Mail noted, adding that the 14-karat designer Mejuri jewelry gold hoop earrings were listed as worth $450 and the open-toed red shoes from James’ Brother Vellies fashion line were valued at roughly $614. Ocasio-Cortez also carried a James purse that featured the ‘Tax the Rich’ mantra,” The Daily Wire reported.
Aside from her lavish clothing, Ocasio-Cortez also received heat for appearing at the event maskless while being served and surrounded by staff in masks.
Correction: This story originally said that Ocasio-Cortez launched her “Tax the Rich” product line following the Met Gala. She and her team promoted the line in a campaign following the event, but the “Tax the Rich” products launched in December of 2020. The story has been updated.