As Twitchy reported earlier, thanks to an order Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer has issued to the Senate Sargeant at Arms, Sen. John Fetterman can wander down the aisles of the Senate wearing his gym clothes, now that the dress code has been relaxed. Fetterman did manage to put on a suit for his official Senate portrait, so we know he owns one. But as recent videos and photographs show, Fetterman prefers to come to the office wearing his trademark hoodie and gym shorts, like a 14-year-old playing pick-up basketball. Now he can enter the Senate chamber without having to change.
This reminds me of a post I did a couple of years ago when Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was caught on camera presiding over the Senate wearing a denim vest.
C-SPAN social media senior specialist Jeremy Art posted a clip:
CLIP: Denim vest presiding in the U.S. Senate. pic.twitter.com/4Yx02nOlCg
— Jeremy Art (@cspanJeremy) October 26, 2021
Jim Swift, senior editor of The Bulwark, which is dedicated to conserving conservatism, thought Sinema ought to be ashamed.
Preceding Sen. Sinema in horrible outfits worn in the U.S. Senate are Ted Cruz and John Ensign. I hate to give either of them credit, but neither pulled this shit as presiding officer. Sinema should be ashamed.
— Jim Swift (@JimSwiftDC) October 26, 2021
Shame!
Washington Post congressional reporter Paul Kane took a photo of the dress code and posted it.
There used to be a sign in the Senate Press Gallery admonishing journalists they were not allowed to wear denim into the chamber. Hill reporters: is it still there? https://t.co/1K1CF17nao
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) October 26, 2021
Still here. pic.twitter.com/9xvYsHxQIw
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) October 26, 2021
We think this sign was addressed to reporters, who were still supposed to wear business attire.
Holy shit Arizona. Holy shit.pic.twitter.com/GslXBuOsbl
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) October 26, 2021
The outrage carried over into the following day, when Ana Navarro of "The View" decided to explain how Sinema's denim vest was racist.
I really don’t care who gets triggered by me bringing race into this. The truth is, no woman of color could possibly dress like this, and act like this, and be taken seriously, much less elected.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) October 27, 2021
I suspect every Black woman and Latina reading this knows what I’m talking about. https://t.co/J7HuxPkba9
Confirmed by MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle:
This is absolutely true
— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) October 28, 2021
Something tells us Sinema's politics played into the faux outrage over a denim vest. Fetterman can dress like he just got out of gym class and everyone seems cool with it.
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Update:
John Fetterman, in a hoodie and shorts, is presiding over the US Senate today. pic.twitter.com/th9m9kuBhI
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) September 20, 2023
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