The expensive footwear sat innocuously on Rama Duwaji's feet during a historic moment. Yet within hours, the $630 Miista boots had become a political flashpoint — evidence, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, of rank hypocrisy at the heart of New York's new progressive leadership.
On Friday, Jan. 2, Leavitt, 28, launched an Instagram Stories broadside at Duwaji, 28, wife of newly inaugurated NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, 34, weaponising a single fashion choice into an indictment of Democratic economic policy. The attack exposed fault lines in how both sides of America's political divide interpret the symbols of power, wealth and authenticity.
