--- title: Democratic Politicians Are Embracing Barbiecore description: While some Republicans are decrying Barbie for being woke, Democratic lawmakers are leaning into the Barbie trend. canonical: https://time.com/6298420/democrats-congress-barbie-movie/ author: Mini Racker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-07-26T20:21:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:02.814Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democratic Politicians Are Embracing Barbiecore og:description: While some Republicans are decrying Barbie for being woke, Democratic lawmakers are leaning into the Barbie trend. og:url: https://time.com/6298420/democrats-congress-barbie-movie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf8c54f09162bef60/698a3f0bcabb1d6096e519c6/GettyImages-1546737378.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: In this photo illustration, the Barbie the movie logo seen og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democratic Politicians Are Embracing Barbiecore twitter:description: While some Republicans are decrying Barbie for being woke, Democratic lawmakers are leaning into the Barbie trend. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf8c54f09162bef60/698a3f0bcabb1d6096e519c6/GettyImages-1546737378.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democratic Politicians Are Embracing Barbiecore > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6ba86808-4e6d-4dd8-bb7e-ec9a0252773b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Margot Robbie and the "Barbie" Cast Are Here for a Barbie Challenge [Watch (HLS stream): Margot Robbie and the "Barbie" Cast Are Here for a Barbie Challenge](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rnmcLo7q.m3u8) (10:00)  _Published 2023-06-27. Ahead of Barbie's big screen debut on July 21, the cast of the movie reconnected with their inner child and took on a "dress up your doll" challenge. Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, and Alexandra Shipp all play different versions of Barbie._  by [Mini Racker](https://time.com/author/mini-racker/)  ## Mini Racker Jul 26, 2023 8:21 PM UTC  Barbie the movie logo seen displayed on a smartphone. Barbie the movie logo seen displayed on a smartphone. Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images  by [Mini Racker](https://time.com/author/mini-racker/)  ## Mini Racker Jul 26, 2023 8:21 PM UTC If you logged onto Twitter following [_Barbie_’s](https://time.com/6289864/barbie-time-cover-story/) opening-weekend success, you might have been one of the well over one hundred thousand users who noticed a curious image. It depicted President Joe Biden wearing a blush-colored suit, accompanied by former President Barack Obama dressed in his own rosy ensemble. Stamped in magenta script on the picture of the leader of the free world: _Barbie_. The image was manipulated—the Democratic fundraiser who posted it, Jon Cooper, said it was photoshopped or AI-generated; a Twitter content note labeled it the latter. But it isn’t a surprise that some users were fooled. [Barbiecore](https://time.com/6294123/barbie-partnerships-crocs-burger-king/) has been everywhere. And if there is one sure thing in Washington, it is that the political classes will always feel compelled to weigh in on cultural moments in their constant quest for relevance. That reliable truth has been on full display as America heads into the depths of summer. On the right, conservative influencers like Ben Shapiro are burning Barbie dolls and decrying how “woke” the film is. Republican lawmakers like Texas Senator Ted Cruz have slammed it for [displaying a map with a disputed border](https://time.com/6292066/barbie-ban-nine-dash-line-china/). Democratic politicians, for their part, have leaned into the trend. “This Barbie wants Congress to pass the #PROAct to protect every worker’s right to organize,” [tweeted](https://twitter.com/PattyMurray/status/1682139756572954625) Washington Senator Patty Murray last week along with an image of a doll holding a sign in favor. [Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman](https://time.com/6296038/john-fetterman-depression-cover-story/) and Maryland Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin have all issued Barbie-themed tweets, the latter with [an image of himself](https://twitter.com/SenatorCardin/status/1682024552065536002) sporting an Equal Rights Amendment pin superimposed on a glittery pink background. “Come on Barbie, let's go party,” California Rep. Robert Garcia [responded](https://twitter.com/RobertGarcia/status/1643385214159433728?s=20) in April to a post by his communications director declaring him the Ken who “is the first LGBTQ+ immigrant in Congress.” ### More From TIME No one may have embraced Barbiecore more fully than Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Earlier in the summer, a group of women on her staff planned [an entire social media campaign around the doll](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/style/gretchen-whitmer-barbie.html), styling a Governor Barbie doll after the real thing, complete with fuschia power suit and signature-ready legislation. “We meet people where they are and use cultural moments to make change in policy, government, and politics,” says Kaylie Hanson, Whitmer’s chief communications officer, in a statement to TIME. “This campaign will hopefully help show people that yes, girls can embrace who they are and do what girls do best: lead.” A majority of the country’s female governors are Democrats, as are a majority of the women in Congress. Given that Barbie has had White House aspirations since 1992, when her maker, Mattel, introduced a Barbie for President doll, many real women in power are now celebrating the doll as a symbol of **their** representation in high office. Barbie, which has been traditionally marketed to women, is also helping Democrats message to female voters. Historically, women tend to vote more Democratic than men in [presidential](https://time.com/5903399/gender-gap-politics/) and congressional elections. Democrats have sought to court women voters even more explicitly since the fall of _Roe v. Wade_ last year, and abortion rights remain top of mind for many of the party’s strategists going into 2024\. For some Democrats, Barbiecore is a subtle way to remind the public that they are prioritizing issues that disproportionately affect women. Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock used Barbie marketing to highlight the work he’s doing this month to protect women. “This Ken is pushing to end maternal mortality,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/SenatorWarnock/status/1682459130328408064). “Not only was the image that I posted just plain fun, but importantly, it also played into the fact that women's empowerment is an important value in the Democratic Party,” says Cooper, who gained a following online tweeting during Donald Trump's presidency, of his viral tweet. “In contrast, the other side continues to tear down women's rights in ways we couldn't have even imagined just a few years ago.” Republicans have been a lot less enthusiastic than Democrats about _Barbie_. Asked by reporters ahead of opening weekend which film they would attend, _Barbie_ or [Christopher Nolan’s _Oppenheimer_](https://time.com/6295742/oppenheimer-review/)_,_ several Democratic Senators gushed about Barbie, while the handful of Republicans who admitted they’d see it sounded less than enthusiastic. “I’m shallow and I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’m going with _Barbie_,” Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis told [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna95327). But there was at least one Republican who didn’t shy away from the film, donning a pair of heart-shaped, rose-colored glasses over the weekend. > [](https://twitter.com/MrSantosNY/status/1682901457727619072) “35 and still party like Barbie,” [tweeted](https://twitter.com/MrSantosNY/status/1682901457727619072) embattled New York Rep. George Santos. ## Transcript My Barbie needs more time. Okay. Not looking punk, I don't think I'm in love with what I've done. I think my farthest of hurts all expectations and I just I'm so proud. I don't want it. I don't want can Oh my God. Okay, now what is punk? I'm not a fashionista you guys but I think I know Punk. When I see it. I actually do. Love the look, I don't know if it's but I thought about it. So I would I would love like a quick 45 minutes with like I need a Lynn bread and then I can really show you what this rust can look like on a girl with blue hair. To me, no, offense to the Met Gala. This is what I Met Gala outfit. Looks like I chose a big helmet shoes. Are a bag. We're open at 7, the band with a little bit of crack out this one hops. Wow. I feel like she's, she's got like a contract. She can fly back and they want to just like it's like they were the mini dresses cuz they're not trying to do the gown dress code, but they left like the edges exposed. I thought about sunglasses but then it's like, you know, she's an up-and-coming independent film actress. So how are the Getty Image Photography is going to recognize her if she wears sunglasses? So, she took them off last second, Pirates. Understanding of this world is so nuanced. I have no recollection of playing with the pain but don't tell him that I love him. No, very handsy. So cool. Come on, Barbie. Oh my God. So hard to get her feet. How do we have? The dexterity is kids to do that? We had, we had nothing else to do. Is it a four-year because she facilitated the end of the writers strike. My Barbie is obviously a singer at this moment. She's hitting the high note. I am a Barbie girl. So mine has infiltrated either the government of North Korea or an alien invasion and their government. She's warned their outfits and she's worked herself like a Manchurian Candidate into the highest levels of leadership and taking them down from the inside because they took it from her, okay? It wasn't. And she lost the back of her pants and a fire, okay? So but you went straight from that to the time cover. Shoot. Yes. My Barbie wrote a book called women. It's about women, any idea you've ever had about women, any problem you've ever had with a woman, she she fixed all of it with her book and she's just signed a deal with Netflix for a film adaptations called woman. She's kind of the face of women everywhere, but she's wearing her sunglasses because she's like, who am I my email? And my lady is the first female president of the United States. And she wear policy so she's wearing a l movie. That's right. I definitely have worried about you be going up, Dale kind of turned into weird, Bobby off. I got played with a few times. What's cooking good-looking welcome, welcome to my house. Let me see, weird Bobby. We mean like a Bobby has been played with too hot and the real world and they hands up being a little messed up and maybe they got some Crayon on their face and scissors. Markers other stuff, you know, you missed your Barbie. I heard someone who looked like, whoever it was was amazing and I really don't like it when someone else does my hands or feet or maybe I was trying to do my earnings but yeah, the foot should I got all three of us like how many times but like the Chrissy Teigen sweet nothing like it was a screen. Grab of my feet in front of the shower and it was like I need to know everything about this. Like how many take? So she harness with Lola and we probably did? I don't know? Maybe eight takes. No, I didn't wasn't wearing a harness but I did hold on to like a ball when I got back to that. I was still steady holding, it would be like tomorrow. It probably is I'm at once again. Joker. Okay, she is a superhero. Her name is hot girl. She gets really hot. Literally it's baked potato Couture. She's burning evil. Evil know. She's burning that she's melting it down to liquid. Heat proof glass. We're going to see My superhero is. That's her name of the ability to inflict cramps on men. So she dress. Provocatively, the pimp then and then she's like texting. So he his superpower is to be invisible, which is why he's not wearing anything? Because when he goes invisible then you see the clothes walking around. So he has to be naked all the time with my boy, like to see a no, because it's attached to it goes invisible, might be out for the count. This is some sandwich girl. Okay, so her superpowers, you always have to give to someone who needs food, but the problem is, she also looks like a flasher when she goes up to someone and she's like a, you want something? I got something for you and they're like, they run away and she's like, oh, it's a sandwich here. Like we don't believe you and she's like, This is animal, she can turn into any type of animal giving cheetah, she's giving leopard. She's giving polar bear realness instead of like roaring. She does run. So she'll be like I'm impressed with the creativity. That's been put on display here and has been brought out of all of us. Grown people just the presence of the dolls and the clothes it really is an incredible thing. I needed me to it's a productive. 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