AOC: 1, Angry republicans: 0
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has released a series of gender-neutral sweatshirts on her website, including one that reads “Eat the Rich”.
On Wednesday (December 2), the New York congresswoman unveiled a new line of merch on her official store. Each piece makes reference to AOC’s marquee policies, from cancelling student debt to the Green New Deal.
But it was her gender-neutral “Tax the Rich” sweatshirt that drew the ire of republicans. Critics of AOC felt the price ($58) was hypocritical given her support for democratic socialism, a political philosophy shared by former running mate Bernie Sanders.
Brigitte Gabriel, founder and chairman of the right-wing, outright racist anti-Muslim group ACT for America, referred to the sweatshirt as “tone-deaf”. Former National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch claimed that Ocasio-Cortez was “railing against capitalism by literally engaging in it”, while PragerU, a conservative media company which recently had a pair of anti-trans videos removed from YouTube for violating hate speech policies, tweeted: “Elites telling working class people they’re fighting for them and then ripping them off is Marxism 101.” (Disclaimer: it‘s not)
Even Dean Browning, the Republican candidate from Pennsylvania who was recently outed for pretending to be a Black, gay man on Twitter, piped in. “Seems like capitalism,” he tweeted.
Thanks!
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 2, 2020
Preorders are open now :) https://t.co/J973Ot2VAtpic.twitter.com/yY7SpOG4VD
In response, AOC retweeted a thread from Stephen Punwasi, a former “mass market apparel designer”, who explained why the item is more expensive than your typical fast-fashion attire. He pointed out that on Ocasio-Cortez’s website it states that the sweatshirt is made in the United States through union labour. “Sounds about right,” he said. “That's what it costs to pay everyone a decent wage along the way.”
AOC also tweeted in a separate thread: “Republicans are freaking out bc we don’t use slave-wage labour for merch that funds grassroots organising. But what’s the difference between Trump’s merch and ours? Ours is made in the US.” Gamepoint.
In other merch-related news, Four Seasons Total Landscaping, the Philadelphia garden centre where Donald Trump’s team accidentally held a post-election press conference instead of the Four Seasons Hotel, now has its own range of branded t-shirts, hoodies, and stickers that read ‘Make America Rake Again’ and ‘Lawn and Order’. Bet you won’t see the republicans dragging them on social media.
Republicans are freaking out bc we don’t use slave-wage labor for merch that funds grassroots organizing.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 3, 2020
But what’s the difference between Trump’s merch and ours?
Ours is made in the US. 🇺🇸
(& for GOP who joke that we shld give 👕 for free, we actually do - just volunteer 😉) https://t.co/35DnbFYQyC