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 $75,000 a pop.
The former vice president was in the Big Apple this week for a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, but she also stopped by the swanky Polo Bar on Sunday before getting dolled up for the gala that takes place on the first Monday in May.
Kamala Harris stuns at the Met Gala. pic.twitter.com/aHtwmu9Xss
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) May 6, 2025
“Kamala Harris stuns at the Met Gala,’ the DNC wrote on its X account with a picture of the vice president for its 2.3 million followers.
But such stunts show just how difficult it is for high profile Democrats to live in two worlds, said Democratic strategist Max Burns.
“Harris wants to embrace Democratic populism,” Burns said. “But the Met Gala is maybe the most tone deaf place to do it. It just doesn’t send the message Dems think it does.”
Another Democratic strategist told Daily Beast that Democrats “have to be committed to fighting the appearance of elitism.”
“My advice to any Democrat searching for their way out of the wilderness is less Hollywood, more Main Street,” he said.
The former vice president skipped the red carpet first keeping her visit under wraps, but she was spotted posing with a series of A-list celebrities including gala chairs race car driver Lewis Hamilton, actor Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky and music producer Pharrell as well as other guests like the rapper Doechii.
A post shared by Denise Stephanie Hewitt (@thedenisestephanie)
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 reaction to the ex-vice president’s appearance received mixed reaction online. Some praised her gorgeous look and lamented her not being the president. But others slammed her attendance.
On X user wrote that “the one thing that is sure to bring disenchanted voters back to the Democratic Party fold is knowing that Kamala Harris stunned at the Met Gala.”
But despite her appearance raising some eyebrows, a spokesperson for Harris said the former vice president was there to celebrate the night’s theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
The 2025 gala celebrated the influence of Black fashion and dandyism, which has been used to challenge expectations and deliver a message through menswear.
Harris has used her style to subvert public expectations, and she has uplifted Black designers and artists throughout her time at the White House, her spokesperson said.
The star-studded event is an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and coincides with the opening of its latest exhibit. According to the museum’s CEO, the event raised a record $31 million.
Harris’ appearance at the Met Gala is not her first foray into the fashion world. She appeared on the cover of Vogue twice as vice president, and Wintour has been a top Democratic fundraiser for years.
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has also been a guest at the elite event. She posed on the red carpet there in 2022.
Progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was torched by conservatives for appearing on the Met Gala red carpet in 2021 wearing a dress with the words “tax the rich” painted across the back.
One person not on the guest list and not likely to attend the Met Gala in the future is President Donald Trump. Before he got into politics, the president was a regular attendee of the glitzy event along with members of his family including Melania and Ivanka Trump, who attended as recently as 2016.
But Wintour, who tightly controls the guest list, revealed in a late night show appearance in 2017 that the one celebrity she would never invite back was Trump.
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