AOC Slams Donald Trump for Writing Off $70,000 In Hairstyling Bills
In 2019, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got a cut-and-color (lowlights, to be specific!) and paid $250, before tip. It was a treat, AOC said, for her birthday. At the time conservatives hurled insults at her, calling her a hypocrite.
Meanwhile, the recent reveal of President Donald Trump’s tax returns shows that he not only spent $70,000 on “hair for TV,” but he also wrote that expenditure off in his taxes. The money he spent on his hair (enough to buy a Tesla) allowed him—through some creative accounting loopholes—to spend less on taxes we all pay into that help fund the military, schools, and fire departments.
I know what you’re thinking: This is an outrage! How did AOC get such a great deal on hair in a big city salon, and does she have any tips for how to find an affordable colorist? Seriously—if you’re a woman, you know that the costs associated with keeping up appearances are high, and if you’ve ever had a professional put foils in your hair, you know that $250 for foils and a cut is a sweet deal.
Republicans have been strangely silent on the fact that Trump spent 280 times the cost of one Ocasio-Cortez salon visit on his hair. The reveal came as part of a watershed New York Times report on the president’s tax returns, which found, among other things, that the year Trump took office, he paid only $750 in income tax. (For context, an hourly worker is likely to pay significantly more.)
Ocasio-Cortez pushed back against the bizarre double standard between reactions to her hair bill and to the president’s. “Last year Republicans blasted a firehose of hatred + vitriol my way because I treated myself to a $250 cut & lowlights on my birthday,” she tweeted. "Where’s the criticism of their idol spending $70k on hairstyling? Oh, it’s nowhere because they’re spineless, misogynistic hypocrites? Got it.”
Republicans at the time made the freshman congresswoman’s hair a news story, claiming that spending money on her hair undercut (if you will) Ocasio-Cortez’s messaging about income inequality. You know—because spending some of your money on dimension-adding lowlights means you don’t really believe that people should be able to access health care, afford college, and climb out of poverty. In another instance in 2018, a conservative journalist tweeted an image of the congresswoman at work, captioning it “that jacket and coat don’t look like a girl who struggles.” (She was wearing a blazer.) Attacking a leader based on their appearance really is the lowest level of criticism (yes, sneering at Trump’s makeup and clothing is wrong too).
With Ocasio-Cortez, people seem unable to help themselves—the desire to insult a powerful young woman’s looks and personal choices is just too strong.
Ladies and sympathetic others, salon-goers and box-dye aficionados: We cannot allow ourselves to be divided. We must reject the notion that we have to choose between looking cute and supporting social systems. A $250 hairdo is a great once-in-a-while treat. A $70,000 hair bill used to get out of paying taxes isn’t just a style mistake. It’s unpatriotic.
Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour. You can follow her on Twitter.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
