Politics Weekly America Trump, Sydney Sweeney and the ‘war on woke’
Aug 8, 2025
Amanda Marcotte, a senior politics writer at Salon, delves into the intersection of pop culture and politics, using the uproar over Sydney Sweeney's jeans ad as a lens. She discusses how the MAGA base shifts its focus amidst the Epstein investigation, using cultural controversies as distractions. The conversation explores the repercussions of woke advertising and the implications of celebrity influence on political narratives. Marcotte critiques the 'trad wife' concept and highlights the evolving responsibilities of brands in a politically charged landscape.
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Sydney Sweeney Jeans Ad Controversy
- The Sydney Sweeney American Eagle jeans ad caused a cultural firestorm involving claims of white supremacist coding.
- Right-wing pundits amplified the controversy, despite no mainstream Democrats criticizing the ad itself.
Asymmetry in Culture War Criticism
- Only a handful of social media users criticized the jeans ad, not official Democratic leaders.
- Yet Republicans treated the criticism as if it represented the Democratic Party's stance.
MAGA's Misogyny and Victim Narrative
- The MAGA movement pushes a brutish, misogynist version of heterosexuality.
- This agenda fights equality for women and LGBTQ people while claiming men are the real victims.