Kyrsten Sinema Says Coverage of Her Fashion Over Her Work Is 'Very Inappropriate': 'No One's Business'

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is shrugging off the headlines about her personal style, saying her fashion choices should be secondary to her work as a lawmaker.

Speaking with Politico in a rare interview, published Wednesday, the 44-year-old Arizona lawmaker said of the coverage of her clothing: "It's very inappropriate. I wear what I want because I like it. It's not a news story, and it's no one's business."

"It's not helpful to have [coverage] be positive or negative," she continued. "It also implies that somehow women are dressing for someone else."

Sinema has been in the Senate since 2019, where she serves as a key vote in the Democrats' razor-thin majority — and, often because of that, her decisions make her a lightning bolt for controversy when she splits from her party.

"I've been concerned at the push that happens in both parties, this push to have no disagreements. To only have unity or to only speak with one voice. And some will say, 'Oh, that is our strength,'" Sinema told Politico. "Having some disagreement is normal. It is real, it is human. And it's an opportunity for us as mature beings to work through it."

As a more moderate member, Sinema regularly breaks with progressives. She recently opposed parts of President Joe Biden's signature social spending package and helped vote down other priorities, like adding a minimum wage increase in a pandemic-relief bill.

But, as Sinema noted in her new interview, her unorthodox fashion rather than her policies have sometimes pulled focus — such as when she wore a series of colorful wigs (meant to highlight pandemic-safe hair care rules) or, in February, when she presided over the Senate in a pink crewneck jumper that read "DANGEROUS CREATURE" in red letters.

That sweater quickly gained attention on social media after NBC News reporter Sahil Kapur pointed it out on Twitter alongside a photo of Sinema.

Later that day, NBC News producer Frank Thorp V reported that Utah Sen. Mitt Romney made a comment about his colleague's shirt, which was also caught on camera.

"You're breaking the Internet," Romney could be heard saying in the clip.

"Good," Sinema replied with a shrug.

Sinema, who previously served in Arizona's state legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives, made history in 2018 as the state's first female senator and the Senate's first openly bisexual member when she beat Republican Martha McSally to fill retiring Republican Jeff Flake's seat.

As she has drawn more attention, Sinema has also increasingly attracted the ire of left-wing activists. Some of them have followed her at the airport, into the bathroom at a university where she serves as a lecturer and even to a friend's wedding she officiated, even as the bride pleaded with them to stop.

In a statement released after the restroom incident, Sinema said that she was concerned about was the safety, security and privacy of her students, whom she said were "unfairly and unlawfully victimized."

Sinema added in that statement that the activists who followed her to the restroom represented a group "that both my team and I have met with several times since I was elected to the Senate, and I will continue engaging with Arizonans with diverse viewpoints to help inform my work for Arizona."