Congresswoman Katie Porter has provoked controversy on social media this week, after she showed up to vote on a bill dressed as Batwoman for Halloween.
On Thursday, October 31, the Democrat representative strode into the Capitol dressed as the DC Comics character. Her colorful outfit came complete with a mask, a cape, and knee-high boots. According to Mediaite, she eventually took off the outfit and dressed in more business formal clothing while actually attending a vote in the Financial Services Committee, but kept her mask on.
Porter uploaded a picture of herself partially disguised to her official Twitter account, and captioned her post: "Taking my work in Congress seriously doesn’t mean I take *myself* too seriously. To my kids Luke, Paul, and Betsy, I’m still just Mom- seeing the Bat-Signal on Halloween & putting on a goofy costume come with the territory. Stay safe trick-or-treating tonight, everyone! [sic]"
On Twitter, some people lambasted Porter for her perceived facetiousness when it came to voting on an important congressional matter:
However, others were more supportive and jumped in to defend Porter's costume:
The character of Batgirl (aka: Barbara Gordon) first appeared in the 1960s Batman TV series, starring Adam West. However, the character proved popular and soon migrated to the mainstream DC Comics universe in her own right.
She made her debuted by foiling a kidnapping attempt in Detective Comics Issue: 359, and was the daughter of Batman's longtime police ally Commissioner James Gordon.
Watch Katie talk about her 'bingo board' of phrases in an interview with Seth Meyers:The character was later paralyzed after being shot by the Joker in Alan Moore's seminal 1988 comic The Killing Joke and was confined to a wheelchair for many years.