Limousine liberal

Limousine liberal and latte liberal are pejorative U.S. political terms used to illustrate perceived hypocritical behavior by affluent political liberals and other left-leaning people of upper class or upper middle class status. Related terms are Champagne socialist, silver-spoon socialist, Mercedes Marxist, and Red Nobility.

Formation and early use

Procaccino campaign

Democratic New York City mayoral hopeful Mario Procaccino coined the term "limousine liberal" to describe incumbent Mayor John Lindsay and his wealthy Manhattan backers during a heated 1969 campaign. Historian David Callahan says that Procaccino:

conjured up an acid image of hypocritical wealthy dogooders insulated from the negative fallout of their bad ideas. This theme has remained a staple of conservative attacks ever since.^[1]

It was a populist and producerist epithet, carrying an implicit accusation that the people it described were insulated from all negative consequences of their programs purported to benefit the poor and that the costs and consequences of such programs would be borne in the main by working class or lower middle class people who were not so poor as to be beneficiaries themselves. In particular, Procaccino criticized Lindsay for favoring unemployed minorities, ex. blacks and Hispanics, over working-class white ethnics.^[2]

One Procaccino campaign memo criticized "rich super-assimilated people who live on Fifth Avenue and maintain some choice mansions outside the city and have no feeling for the small middle class shopkeeper, home owner, etc. They preach the politics of confrontation and condone violent upheaval in society because they are not touched by it and are protected by their courtiers".^[3] The Independent later stated that "Lindsay came across as all style and no substance, a 'limousine liberal' who knew nothing of the concerns of the same 'silent majority' that was carrying Richard Nixon to the White House at the very same time."^[4]

Later use

The New York Observer applied the term to 2008 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards who paid $400 (equivalent to $590 in 2023) for a haircut and, according to the newspaper, "lectures about poverty while living in gated opulence".^[5]^[6]

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton used the term latte liberal to criticize (mostly white and high-income) left-leaning people "sit[ing] around the Hamptons" who advocated for the defund the police movement and ignored the concerns of African-Americans that suffer under high crime rates and rely on a strong police force.^[7]^[8]^[9]

References

^ David Callahan (2010). Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America. John Wiley & Sons. p. 123.
^ The New York Times. "Mayoral Follies, The 1969 Edition " Published January 25, 1998.
^ The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York by Vincent J. Cannato, page 428.
^ The Independent. "Obituary: John Lindsay " Archived 2008-01-07 at the Wayback Machine. Written December 22, 2000 by Rupert Cornwell.
^ Kornacki, Steve (May 28, 2007). "Is Edwards An Easy Mark?". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
^ Steve Fraser (2016). The Limousine Liberal: How an Incendiary Image United the Right and Fractured America. Basic Books. p. 4. ISBN 9780465055661.
^ Joe Concha (September 8, 2020). "MSNBC's Sharpton: Defunding police 'something a latte liberal may go for'". The Hill. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
^ Justin Baragona (September 8, 2020). "Al Sharpton: Defund the Police Is Just Something 'Latte Liberals' Support". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
^ Cuza, Bobby (July 1, 2020). "Black Council Members Push Back Against Protester Budget Criticism". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. Retrieved December 28, 2020. My working-class people, my homeowners, my tenants, my neighbors—they are not out there screaming and yelling, because they have to work.

External links

Quotations related to Limousine liberal at Wikiquote

[1] David Callahan (2010). Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America. John Wiley & Sons. p. 123.

[2] The New York Times. "Mayoral Follies, The 1969 Edition " Published January 25, 1998.

[3] The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York by Vincent J. Cannato, page 428.

[4] The Independent. "Obituary: John Lindsay " Archived 2008-01-07 at the Wayback Machine. Written December 22, 2000 by Rupert Cornwell.

[5] Kornacki, Steve (May 28, 2007). "Is Edwards An Easy Mark?". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2021.

[6] Steve Fraser (2016). The Limousine Liberal: How an Incendiary Image United the Right and Fractured America. Basic Books. p. 4. ISBN 9780465055661.

[7] Joe Concha (September 8, 2020). "MSNBC's Sharpton: Defunding police 'something a latte liberal may go for'". The Hill. Retrieved December 7, 2021.

[8] Justin Baragona (September 8, 2020). "Al Sharpton: Defund the Police Is Just Something 'Latte Liberals' Support". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 7, 2021.

[Cuza_2020-9] Cuza, Bobby (July 1, 2020). "Black Council Members Push Back Against Protester Budget Criticism". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. Retrieved December 28, 2020. My working-class people, my homeowners, my tenants, my neighbors—they are not out there screaming and yelling, because they have to work.

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