White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt hit out at the wife of New York City’s new mayor for wearing designer boots at the Socialist Democrat’s swearing-in ceremony.
One day after Zohran Mamdani was inaugurated, promising to make life more affordable in America’s most populous city, Leavitt took aim at the fashion choices of his 28-year-old wife, Rama Duwaji, to accuse the couple of hypocrisy.
The rebuke came in response to New York’s First Lady wearing a pair of $630 Miista boots as she stood alongside her husband while he took the oath of office at a disused subway station on Thursday, using a Quran.
She also wore a pair of black knee-length shorts and a dark Balenciaga wool coat – all of which, according to her stylist, had been borrowed or loaned.
But Leavitt, 28, wrote on her Instagram on Friday: “They want New Yorkers to hand over more than half their income to the government – while she wears designer boots worth your weekly paycheck.
“Classic Communists – rules for you, but not for them. There are reasons Communism has failed everywhere it’s been tried. Good luck, New York.”
The attack was a reference to the highly ambitious affordability agenda Mamdani campaigned on in last year’s mayoral race, where he defeated Trump-backed candidate and former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo.
Promises include universal childcare for children from 6 weeks to 5 years old; freezing the rent for roughly two million rent-stabilized tenants; making buses “fast and free”; and creating five city-controlled supermarkets to offer groceries at lower prices.
Mamdani has not said New Yorkers will be forced to “hand over half their income,” contrary to Leavitt’s claim, but has suggested paying for his multi-billion-dollar promises by taxing wealthy residents and raising the city’s corporate tax rate.
“I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” he told the crowd at his Inauguration on Thursday. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”
“We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” he added.
Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s 112th mayor in the former City Hall subway station, making him the first Muslim and South Asian person to serve as mayor and the youngest mayor in over a century.
While it was a momentous occasion for the city, Duwaji’s boots also caused a stir online, and not just from the White House.
The stylish boots featured a low, sculpted block heel and a decorative vertical lace-up design up the back.
But not everyone on social media was impressed, with one X user declaring: “Mamdani’s ‘affordability agenda’ is a scam. His wife parades in $600 Miista boots while he pushes rent freezes that’ll collapse housing stock. They’re moving into Gracie Mansion to dodge the chaos their policies create.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Mayor’s office for comment.
New York stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson—who styled Duwaji for the day at the request of Mamdani’s senior adviser—wrote on her Substack: “I’m just going to have to get comfortable with the fact that people on the internet do not understand what being lent a SAMPLE that has been borrowed before and will be borrowed again means but, you know what, that’s okay.”
“I love that she added a new chapter to garments that have already lived many lives—and that their next wearers will get to share in this piece of history,” Karefa-Johnson added, about Duwaji’s outfit.
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