The Sydney Sweeney Saga Shows Why Republicans Keep Winning
9th August 2025
Politico, a Voice of the Crust.
Look, we’re all tired of the Sydney Sweeney discourse. But if it’s going to cost Democrats politically — and cost all of us brain cells — we should at least understand why it mattered. Let’s get through this together.
For the blissfully uninitiated: The actress Sydney Sweeney was the face of a new ad for American Eagle where they say she has “good jeans.” This is obviously a play on “good genes,” which to most people was a reference to how she is good looking, and to a small cadre of extremely online lefty posters and SEO-chasing online media outlets was a reference to Nazism and eugenics. The right made a whole thing about it, accusing Democrats of being out-of-touch scolds, and somehow Democrats have found themselves on the defensive. The episode caused confusion, consternation and a wave of Democrats performatively affirming that yes, they too think Sydney Sweeney is beautiful. Welcome to 2025.
You might be wondering why anybody cares about this. But here’s the thing: The fact that this moment became a thing at all — that a stupid pun could metastasize into a full-blown political moment — says something real about the media ecosystem we’re all trapped in. And it says even more about why Democrats keep losing the culture war, and with it, the narrative war that inevitably shapes who wins elections.
Democrats keep thinking that their problem is a communications problem. They need to realize that they don’t have a communications problem; people are getting the message–it’s just that their message sucks.
I’m sure Democrats are tired of it. Me, I’m having a great time.
CASE IN POINT: NY Times Blames Right for Sydney Sweeney Denim Venom Spewed by NPR, MSNBC