Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Attended Met Gala with Billionaire Seagram’s Heir Benjamin Bronfman

Photo by: NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx 2021 9/13/21 Benjamin Bronfman, Aurora James, Alexandria Ocasio
NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx 2021 9/13/21
Alana Mastrangelo

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attended the 2021 Met Gala on Monday night with billionaire Seagram’s heir Benjamin Bronfman, who is dating her dress designer, Aurora James.

Ocasio-Cortez claimed her presence at the Met Gala clad in an ultra-fancy “Tax the Rich” dress was a political protest against the wealthy, and that she “punctured the 4th wall of excess and spectacle,” but critics say the move was a chief example of hypocrisy.

Moreover, Ocasio-Cortez — along with her boyfriend Riley Roberts — was spotted walking the red carpet with Aurora James and Benjamin Bronfman, who has an estimated net worth of $100 million, and whose father, Edgar Bronfman Jr., has an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion, as the family founded the Seagram’s drinks company.

While some argued that Ocasio-Cortez’s “Tax the Rich” dress was an insult to the wealthy people who donate to the gala, others pointed out that those whom government defines as “rich” are often middle and working class Americans.

President Joe Biden recently broke his pledge not to increase taxes on working-class Americans, as the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill would raise taxes on Americans making over $50,000 or more per year in the calendar year 2031.

In a bizarre response to the backlash she received for showing up to the $35,000 per ticket Met Gala in a “Tax the Rich” dress, Ocasio-Cortez suggested her critics are simply “disdainful and unsupportive” of “working class women” such as herself.

“Honestly our culture is deeply disdainful and unsupportive of women, especially women of color and working class women (and LGBTQ/immigrant/etc) from the bottom up,” Ocasio-Cortez — who has an estimated salary of $174,000 per year — said in response to the backlash on Tuesday.

The congresswoman went on to claim that and her “body” have been “so heavily and relentlessly policed” from the moment she won her election in 2018.

Ocasio-Cortez then suggested she was not one of the elite, but rather, she was infiltrating the lavish, star-studded event, and claimed her presence at the Met Gala meant she “punctured the fourth wall.”

“We all had a conversation about Taxing the Rich in front of the very people who lobby against it, and punctured the 4th wall of excess and spectacle,” Ocasio-Cortez insisted.

But while the congresswoman lived it up with the stars on Monday night, she was skewered on social media.

“‘Tax the Rich’……But first I’m gonna go have the time of my life partying with them all at the most extravagant over the top party of the year that is essentially a celebration of richness,” reacted Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy — one of many who pointed out the glaring hypocrisy.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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