The message won’t come as a surprise to those familiar with her progressive views, and of course it generated as much negative commentary as it did positive press, which is par for the course in politics.

Many did remark upon the irony that she had chosen to share this message at an event that costs $35,000 a head, though. The steep fee raises funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, and is typically paid by ultra-wealthy donors and brands with deep pockets who wish to brush shoulders with A-list celebrities for a night. 

Ocasio-Cortez clarified on Twitter that New York elected officials are routinely invited to and attend the Met Gala, given their responsibilities in overseeing and supporting the city’s cultural institutions: “I was one of several in attendance [that] evening,” she wrote. As an invited guest, then, she and her colleagues wouldn’t have had to spend $35,000 to attend.