Kamala Harris has not been hiding this year. She’s been to baseball games, she’s been to fundraisers, she gave a speech as she accepted the Chairman’s Award at the NAACP Awards. There are rumors that she plans to run for office again, and we can see that she’s still going to raise money for Democrats and for the causes she believes in. Well, Kamala Harris attended the Met Gala on Monday. She didn’t walk the carpet, there are no photos of her anywhere other than Off-White’s Instagram. She wore a custom Off-White gown designed by IB Kamara and she looked fantastic. The first Black woman to serve as Vice President of the United States went to a Met Gala with the theme of Black Dandyism, and she wore a gown made by a Black designer – the living history of the Black experience speaks for itself. Obviously, Democrats can’t help but eat their own and nitpick Kamala for going to the gala:
Kamala Harris rubbed elbows with actors, musicians and super models at the Met Gala on Monday night, but some Democrats believe her showing up at fashion’s biggest night was a tone deaf move. The former vice president’s debut appearance at the lavish event comes as Democrats are still licking their wounds from the devastating 2024 election loss. The Harris campaign has faced criticism for blowing more than $1 billion in just three months after Joe Biden Stepped down. However, individual tickets to the exclusive extravaganza at the Metropolitan Museum of Art went for $75,000 a pop.
The former vice president was in the Big Apple this week for a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, but she also stopped by the swanky Polo Bar on Sunday before getting dolled up for the gala that takes place on the first Monday in May.
But such stunts show just how difficult it is for high profile Democrats to live in two worlds, said Democratic strategist Max Burns.
“Harris wants to embrace Democratic populism,” Burns said. “But the Met Gala is maybe the most tone deaf place to do it. It just doesn’t send the message Dems think it does.”
Another Democratic strategist told Daily Beast that Democrats “have to be committed to fighting the appearance of elitism.”
“My advice to any Democrat searching for their way out of the wilderness is less Hollywood, more Main Street,” he said.
The former vice president skipped the red carpet first keeping her visit under wraps, but she was spotted posing with a series of A-list celebrities including gala chairs race car driver Lewis Hamilton, actor Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky and music producer Pharrell as well as other guests like the rapper Doechii.
Harris was a guest of Vogue editor-in-chief and longtime Met Gala co-chair Anna Wintour, according to a spokesperson for the former vice president. Her black and white silk gown by the brand Off-White was designed by IB Kamara. Doug Emhoff was also in attendance in a suit by Bruenello Cucinelli.
The Met Gala is one of the biggest fundraisers in the world – ticket sales go to support the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The entire budget of the Costume Institute depends on the gala. We’re also living through a period of time when Donald Trump and his unhinged cronies are ending federal funding of museums, arts programs and humanities endowments. Kamala Harris standing up for museums, the arts, the humanities, and the fashion industry… all at once. And that’s before we even talk about why she wanted to go to this particular gala with the celebration of Black culture and the history of Black style. And she didn’t even walk the carpet! Like, I’m not naive, I understand the optics would have needed some explanation if Kamala had swanned up those stairs. But she didn’t do that at all. And all of these awful old men need to stop bitching and moaning about everything Kamala says.
Photos courtesy of Off-White’s IG.
