‘Nancy Pawlosi,’ ‘Pierre Doglecto,’ McConnell and Sinema Pups: Costumed Dogs Walk in Senator’s ‘Bipawtisan’ Halloween Parade
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) held his annual Bipawtisan Halloween Dog Parade on Wednesday. He started the event in 2017, but it was not held last year due to the pandemic nor in 2018 due to Congress being out of session.
Addressing the gathering, Tillis said, “The thing about this event is, we’re just people who are dog lovers and a few people dressed up as dogs.”
He added, “If you love dogs, you gotta be a pretty good person.”
In some instances, dogs were dressed up as senators. Tillis himself dressed one of his dogs, Theo, as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ):
Tillis later noted that he got permission from Sinema to do so.
He dressed up another as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
“This is the leader,” Tillis said as he held up his dog, Mitch.
Photo by Hannah Schoenbaum
Tillis told Mediaite’s Katherine Huggins how this has caused confusion among his staff:
Tillis explained that “it plays mind tricks on my staff when they hear me talking about Mitch. Sometimes they’ll have like a 30-second delay, like, ‘Oh, you’re talking about the dog.'”
Asked what McConnell thinks of the name, Tillis said, “He loved it.”
Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pawlosi made an appearance in the office of Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA):
Other political costumes included Wally with a “Tax the Rich” Uncle Sam costume, a construction worker with the slogan “Bark Back Better” and a parody of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s (D-NY) Met Gala “Tax the Rich” dress.
A dog lobster also made an appearance:
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) also attended, though you could be forgiven for not recognizing the pooch he’s holding since it’s not his.
That pooch, however, was dressed as Pierre Delecto — who you may remember, was Romney’s Twitter alter ego.
Other great costumes included a firefighter, a unicorn, a Tinkerbell fairy, taco, and a lion and tiger — the latter of whom crossed feline paths.
Photo by Katherine Huggins
Photo by Katherine Huggins
Photo by Katherine Huggins
Paris Hilton as a pup made an appearance as well. His owner said she did not meet Hilton when she visited Capitol Hill.
Photo by Isabel Miller
In his opening remarks, Tillis joked about the turnout in the Senate Hart atrium, joking “next year we may have to get a bigger atrium.”
You can watch video Mediaite recorded on the scene above.
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
