Somehow, an actress is slammed as a white supremacist archetype of conservatism for appearing in an advertisement as celebrities frequently do while two obvious phonies, children of privilege who claim to be socialist revolutionaries, are the new face of the Democrat Party, redefining politics for an entire generation.
Over the past six months, perhaps no public feature has captured the affection of conservatives and drawn the ire of progressives more than Sydney Sweeney. While she has not said or done anything overtly political in her 28-year life, she burst into the culture wars last summer thanks to a jeans advertisement of all things, one which punned on her “good genes” and American Eagle’s denim jeans. Somehow, this goofy little throwback to Calvin Klein’s decades old campaign featuring a barely teenage Brooke Shields was enough for progressives to declare she was a card-carrying white supremacist, if not a full blown Nazi, prompting the media to recruit a panoply of supposed experts to declare this must be the case. “This is intentional. This is pointed, and you’re calling out to the consumers that you hope to attract here,” explained Cheryl Overton, a long-time brand strategist and communications executive to CNN. “If American Eagle is really out there trying to target Americans to the right or to the far right, so be it. If that’s who the product is designed for now, that is their right as a company to do that. But you have to know that folks are educated, folks are nuanced, and folks are willing to call brands out.” “Our leadership team passed around some articles about it, and we were discussing whether we thought the American Eagle team when it first came out, did they understand? Were they trying to do something edgy and sexy that came across racist and didn’t recognize that?” wondered Kimberly Jefferson, senior vice president of client relations at PANBlast, a public relations firm. “A quick look at their leadership team: They’re a very white organization. So did they just miss it? Or is this intentionally playing to at best, a conservative, at worst, a racist ideal system that is pervasively growing in America? We went back and forth on that. How intentional was this?” “It seemed clear to me that they were aligning themselves with a white nationalist, MAGA-friendly identity,” answered Shalini Shankar, an anthropology professor at Northwestern University who studies youth and advertising. “I think that this is them trying to rebrand themselves for the present moment, and language is very deliberately used here. People don’t invoke genetics casually. It’s just, it’s very, very easy to sell denim without ever referencing it.”
Those, like myself and others, who insisted it was just an advertisement and we didn’t need their permission to like it or Ms. Sweeney were dismissed, part of a “louder and nastier wave of disdain that people would dare suggest the ad was intentionally about race — or that everyone was being stupid for talking about jeans anyway.” Regardless, Ms. Sweeney and American Eagle refused to apologize and rather than doing so as many in their position would amidst a media onslaught, went ahead with the campaign even as the situation reached such a fever pitch, President Donald Trump himself posted on Truth Social, writing “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!” Some time afterwards, progressives appeared to realize taking aim at an attractive young actress for such a frivolous reason was a losing proposition and promptly declared that the entire scandal was fake from the start, created out of thin air by conservatives cherry picking social media posts. In their view, no Democrat politician publicly commented on the matter, so it didn’t matter and they’d simply pretend that major news networks like CNN didn’t recruit their expertly trained experts to inform us that white supremacy was alive and well in the fashion industry. From there, the furor subsided for the next few months, save for some griping from progressive scolds whenever Ms. Sweeney made a public appearance, but then she gave an interview with GQ last week that restarted the entire process, when a hectoring journalist questioned her in a lecturing style, effectively demanding an apology well after the fact. To her credit, Ms. Sweeney refused to play along once again, encapsulating the insanity of the entire line of questioning with among the year’s most meme worthy facial expressions, somewhere between shocked, annoyed, stunned, and wondering if the journalist had recently arrived from the planet progressive, some strange, irritating little being. When asked, “We’re sort of talking around this American Eagle ad right now, and maybe we should just talk about it. Were you surprised by the reaction?” She answered, “I did a jean ad. I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.” When prompted to comment on President Trump, “The president and the vice president spoke about the jeans ad. What was that like?” She simply declared, “It was surreal.” When confronted about it again, “Is there something that you want to say about the ad itself? The criticism of the content was basically that, maybe specifically in this political climate, white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority.” She shut down the conversation, declaring “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”
Perhaps needless to say, progressives weren’t thrilled and several prominent actors took immediate aim at her, claiming he was “in on it” without saying what the it was beyond the advertisement, whether it is the entire Nazi thing or merely that she likes President Trump, perhaps both or perhaps something else like not prostrating herself before their altar of progressivism as commanded. “She was given the opportunity to push back and she didn’t. Therefore, she’s in on it,” a post on Instagram went viral and was liked by SZA, actress Christina Ricci, and Aimee Lou Wood. “Sydney Sweeney’s GQ interview is a reminder that ‘not having a stance’ on white supremacy is 100% having a stance on white supremacy,” claimed Downton Abbey actor, Dan Stevens, though Ms. Sweeney said precisely nothing of the sort or her stance on anything beyond really, really like jeans, not gens. Celebrity photographer and activist Misan Harriman, posted, “Presuming that you are not a white supremacist, at least say how horrified you were by how this campaign was amplified and celebrated by unrepentant racists who believe in eugenics,” adding “At least recognise the harm your jeans campaign has caused black folk,” suggesting tens of thousands of black people were crying in the street, bleeding on the inside from this brutal attack, and Ms. Sweeney refused to lift them up. As The Daily Mail summarized the latest round, “Sydney Sweeney sparks outrage after starring on GQ’s Men Of The Year cover…as she breaks silence on American Eagle ad.” Conservatives, equally needless to say, were thrilled. As The New York Post’s Kirsten Fleming put it, “Sydney Sweeney just delivered a master class in how to reject Hollywood’s performative liberal game.” “Would Sydney Sweeney care to explain herself to the lunatic scolds? No, she would not — and thank goodness for that…Unlike most of her peers, the 28-year-old clearly does not feel the need to participate in the performative left-wing political rituals demanded of celebrities. And by refusing to complain or explain, Sweeney shows she’s the most secure person in Hollywood.” Ms. Fleming concluded, “The actress is not playing anyone’s game. That angers some people and keeps others on the edge of their seats. But neither camp can wait to see what she does next,” but she made no mention of whether the starlet should run for president in 2040.
Meanwhile, proud Democratic Socialist and now Mayor Elect of New York City Zohran Mamdani burst on the scene around the same time when he defeated disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democrat mayoral primary last June. Ever since, progressives have swooned. According to The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait, “Zohran Mamdani is an extraordinary political story: a generational political talent, an out-of-nowhere success, and—measured by the number of citizens he will soon govern—the most powerful elected democratic socialist in American history.” Former Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton, Robert Reich declared that he represented the “future of the Democratic party,” presumably for winning as a Democrat in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by around eight to one, which under normal circumstances wouldn’t be considered anything other than the expected outcome. Almost literally, you could run my three legged grey hound Rosie with a D next to her name and she’d beat Teddy freaking Roosevelt himself with an R in New York City even as the former police commissioner. “The brightest light in the Democratic party is Zohran Mamdani…Mamdani is talking about what matters to most voters…he’s inspiring a new generation of young people. He’s got them excited about politics.” He went on to claim, he’s “authentic,” “passionate,” “care[s] about real people,” “want[s] to make America fairer,” “advocate[s] practical solutions that people can understand,” and yet the real question, at least in my opinion, should be: Is he any less of an actress than Ms. Sweeney? Is he any more real than something produced in tinsel town? Despite the Mayor Elect’s socialist veneer, he’s a bonafide child of privilege, the son of a post-colonial academic and a filmmaker, born in Uganda of Indian descent. After spending some time at private school in South Africa, where his father was head of African Studies at University of Cape Town, his family came to America when he was seven. He was raised in Morningside Heights, attended the Bank Street School for Children on the Upper West Side, spent so much time on his mother’s film sets as a child that he had nicknames given him by the crew, “Z,” “Zoru,” “Fadoose,” and “Nonstop Mamdani,” graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and attended Bowdoin College where he majored in Africana Studies. At some point during his college career, he turned to politics, co-founding the school’s chapter for Students for Justice in Palestine and urging the college to boycott Israel. Since graduating in 2014, he has never held a real job of any kind. He composed, performed, and produced rap music, when he was known as Young Cardamom. He curated and produced the sound track for one of his mother’s films, great work if one has the access to such privileged spheres, and worked briefly as a foreclosure prevention and housing counselor before winning a seat in the New York State Assembly in 2020. No, resumes don’t get much thinner outside of Hollywood.
Mayor Elect Madmani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, also appears of the same mold. While she claims to be Syrian, specifically from Damascus on her Instagram page, her mother is a doctor and she was born in Texas. The family moved to New Jersey when she was a child after her mother took a job in Hackensack, “providing specialized care for premature and high-risk infants.” In 2006, they moved to Dubai when her mother accepted a prestigious post, leading entire teams of pediatricians at the American Hospital. Ms. Duwaji returned to the US for college, where she attended Virginia Commonwealth University and the School of Visual Arts in New York City, considered one of the best of its kind in the country, earning a Master’s degree in fine arts. From all that we can tell, she has never set foot in Syria, and yet stylizes herself as a full fledged member of the resistance like her Mayor Elect husband, railing about American imperialism, Zionism, the connection between the two, and the plight of the Palestinians. Ms. Duwaji has also been almost universally lauded in the media, an individual who “understands the craft of image-making and just how much visuals matter” according to The New York Times. For its part, The Guardian might have been even more fawning, claiming she “represents a new era of politics which speaks to a new generation of voters.” They went so far as to compare her to former First Ladies of the United States, rather than merely New York City, suggesting a meteoric rise the likes of which we have never seen, much less one which she has truly done anything to deserve, “First lady is one of the most high-profile spots in US politics and culture. From Eleanor Roosevelt’s civil rights advocacy to Hillary Clinton’s healthcare reforms, the political wives of the White House have long been impactful players on the political scene…But the position has a significance that extends far beyond policy. First ladies are expected to fulfil the role of America’s sweetheart, embodying shared values and semaphoring tone with every public appearance.” Perhaps needless to say, they lavished the requisite praise on her wardrobe choices, comparing her to Hollywood royalty in the process, “Duwaji’s victory-speech look was sober: all-black, with a high neck and calf-length skirt, and silver jewellery. But her low-key style did not deflect a feverish online reaction, with her chic dark bob and vintage-style boatneck top bringing instant comparisons to Audrey Hepburn. The outfit was notable for being consistent with Duwaji’s personal style, rather than a cut-and-paste political wife style.” Not surprisingly, they concluded, “For many young New York voters, who have not until now felt themselves represented in civic life, Duwaji’s style is more than ornament. It represents a shift in what public leadership can look like, and speaks to voters who are accustomed to absorbing news and understanding values through visual clues and messages. The biggest city in the US is about to rewrite the first lady myth for a new generation.”
Rather incredibly, the pair receive even more fawning press as a couple. As The Guardian phrased it in the same article, “Mamdani and Duwaji blend youthful energy with traditional elements…Likewise, their love story is both strikingly modern – the two met on Hinge – and solidly traditional in being formalised by marriage…Their combination of romcom-worthy New York spirit and down-to-earth, affordability-conscious relatability has charmed the public.” Vogue was no less gushing, “Together they make up a highly enviable, decidedly modern day power couple and a hopeful example to counter the prevailing mood of ‘heteropessimism’ and widespread negativity about the mere possibility of finding love.” Further, “It’s not just that he found love and a lasting relationship on Hinge. It’s that Mamdani represents the kind of man many of us would like to find on there ourselves – and had perhaps started to give up hope of doing so. He’s principled, passionate, at ease with himself and a seemingly devoted partner…It’s no surprise that their relationship has sparked hopefulness among those of us who are single and cynical. Unlike so many couples in public life, Mamdani and Duwaji’s love story is not just aspirational but relatable.” Collectively, one has to wonder if they are celebrities like Ms. Sweeney or actual politicians with real policy plans and achievements beyond image-making. In other words, precisely what makes them different than Ms. Sweeney save that Mayor Elect Mamdani has run for office? Throughout all of this coverage and more, what they’ve actually done for anyone or accomplished in their lives save their own advancement in a city where my dog could advance as a Democrat, or why anyone is supposed to believe two children of privilege who have never set foot in any of the war zones they claim to care about – or even the country Ms. Diwaji claims to come from – are socialist revolutionaries is completely left unsaid, as though it doesn’t matter in the least because they are young, hot, and hip. In reality, everyone knows they’re actors playing at politicians, not serious people who have accomplished serious things and in a rational world, they’d be treated as such. Somehow, however, an actual actress is slammed as a white supremacist archetype of conservatism for appearing in an advertisement as celebrities frequently do while two obvious phonies are the new face of the Democrat Party, redefining politics for an entire generation. If the revolution will now be cosplayed, and yes, this is nothing more than cosplay by any definition, we might as well go all the way. Sydney Sweeney versus Zohran Mamdani 2040, it is. Yes, I’m aware that Mayor Elect Mamdani is not a natural born citizen and is not currently eligible to run for the Presidency, but why let reality get in the way of a little satire, especially when Ms. Duwaji is already being compared to First Ladies of the United States?
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 