Hillary Clinton gave a speech on economic inequality in April while wearing pricey duds that caught the attention of eagle-eyed fashionistas — particularly a Giorgio Armani jacket valued at $12,495.
The former secretary of state earned enough delegates Monday to become the presumptive Democratic nominee, but it was her expensive attire that landed her in Facebook’s top-trending news stories Tuesday, and her seemingly mixed message on economic equality wasn’t lost on readers.
“I’ve heard a lot of Hillary supporters saying that we should trust her in terms of addressing income inequality and regulating Wall Street,” one Facebook user, Michael Sammartino, wrote Tuesday. “I’ve tried really, really hard to get to that point but, words only go so far. Taking donations from corporations and members of the 1 percent, refusing to release transcripts from her paid Wall Street speeches, and wearing a jacket that’s valued at more than double my entire net worth while giving a speech on income inequality goes to show where her priorities really are.”
Another commenter argued that Mrs. Clinton should get the same treatment Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin received during her vice presidential campaign run in 2008, when she was outfitted by the Republican National Committee to the tune of $150,000.
“Remember how much grief Dems gave Palin for [expletive] like this? And it’s not talking about her clothes. … It’s talking about her excesses and hypocrisies,” wrote Darien Cavanaugh from Columbia, S.C.
The New York Post asked Los Angeles-based political-image consultant Patsy Cisneros Sunday about the cost of creating Mrs. Clinton’s campaign style. Her conclusion: “She’s had to have spent in the six figures on this wardrobe overhaul.”
Mrs. Clinton has secured the 2,383 delegates necessary to clinch the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination, but her campaign urged supporters to turn out and vote Tuesday in California, New Jersey, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and New Mexico. Under Democratic National Committee rules, superdelegates can theoretically change their mind and vote for Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders at the party’s convention in Philadelphia next month.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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