by Cruella De Vil, Kid Rock, Dr. Zhivago – the internet was ablaze to discuss who Marjorie Taylor Greene most resembled in the white knee-length coat and fur collar she wore to the State of the Union. It turns out the question shouldn’t have been WHO But What.
Greene apparently wanted to match the Chinese spy balloon that flew over the country last week. So she chose a white coat because, I think, the balloon was white too.
Nick Dyer, the congressman’s director of communications, told the Guardian in an email that the $495 Overland coat — made with alpaca wool and fur trim — was intended to address the president’s lack of commentary on the balloon during his State of the Union speech. “Biden refused to say anything about it, just as he refused to stop the intelligence-gathering operation that was crossing the United States and monitoring some of our key military facilities in the country,” Dyer said.
Greene bought the piece in Wyoming, Dyer said, while campaigning against Liz Cheney and raising money for Harriet Hageman, who is now a U.S. Representative for the state.
Political Twitter had its own feelings about what the jacket represented. “I don’t know why, but Marjorie Taylor Greene in that white coat yelling at Biden gave me a powerful ‘Russian Karen vibe,'” tweeted Politico EU journalist Nika Melkozerova.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s coat is made from the dogs George Santos said he was rescuing.” joked former Defense Department assistant Adam Blickstein.
Greene wasn’t the only divisive figure to make some choices when it came to styling. Known for her striking dress sense, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema wore a canary yellow dress with voluminous sleeves that evoked comparisons to Big Bird and out-there red carpet outfits.
Not so long ago, if anyone could convey a political message through their clothes on nights like this, it would be the first lady. In simpler times, these outfits were meant to symbolize unity, strength, or a vague sense of patriotism. There are employees who spend weeks arguing over designer outfits. But — quick — remember what Jill Biden wore last night?
I needed Google to remind me: a magenta dress. Purple, as color theory tells us, is a mix of the colors red and blue, and it’s become something of a shorthand for outfits that encourage duality. That’s why so many people, from Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama to Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton, wore it at Biden’s 2021 inauguration.
But no one is tweeting about Jill Biden’s dress today. (Her kiss on the lips with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff? That’s another matter, and why #Swingers was popular on the app this morning.) But Greene’s late-night stealing outfit succeeded as yet another ploy to get attention, similar to the white balloon she carried around Capitol Hill before the speech began.
The next morning, Greene’s outfit was dissected on The View, with co-host Farah Green pulling out a photo of Greene next to one of her puppies. If reports are true that the congresswoman is vying for a spot as Trump’s running mate for 2024, she’s definitely leaning into his playbook — get on television by any means necessary, even if it means dressing up like a balloon.
