Sam Stein, managing editor of "The Bulwark," bashed President Donald Trump's Gatsby-themed Halloween party, saying it was an example of the "incredible and sad dichotomy" of the impact of the Trump administration.
On Friday, Trump held a Gilded Age party at his estate in southern Florida, Mar-a-Lago. Reports indicate the event was attended by administration officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as high-profile Republican donors and other wealthy individuals.
Stein argued in a new episode of "Bulwark Takes" on Sunday that the party was "surprising," given that communities across the country were reeling from continued immigration raids and the expiration of food assistance benefits.
"They are living it up like they're in the Gatsby's," Stein said. "Like this is Moulin Rouge. They're all having nice drinks and stuff, and this is all during a government shutdown...when the president is demolishing the East Wing to build his ostentatious ballroom, where he's posting about this new marble bathroom he's constructed in the White House, mocking the old bathroom because it had old plumbing."
"The level of out-of-touchness that is exhibited here is surprising," Stein added. "Honestly, it suggests a president and administration that just doesn't give a [stuff] because I don't really understand why they would do this."
Stein added that he doesn't think images of opulence like Trump's Halloween party can continue to coexist with the administration's efforts to take away social benefits.
"It is grotesque, honestly, and it's obviously problematic, too, for this country where communities are being torn apart and the people who are top of the government get to have a good old Great Gatsby ball on Halloween," Stein said. "So, that is a microcosm of the current place we are in. It's a sad microcosm, but it is what it is."
The party came just days before the nation votes in a series of key elections, including several tightly contested races for governor and a New York City mayoral contest in which a democratic socialist leads in polls.