George Kent’s Bow Tie Stole the Show at the First Impeachment Hearing

This bow tie is the only thing that matters

George Kent Bow Tie
Spiffy.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Yesterday was the first day of public hearings of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, but the only thing that matters is George Kent’s bow tie.

Before the bow tie, Kent was best, if relatively little-, known as the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs a man who, as Vox noted, “has largely stayed out of press and public awareness.” Now however, Kent will go down in history (or at least until the end of the week) as the guy who wore a bow tie on Wednesday.

In Kent’s case, this isn’t a bad reputation. While bow ties are infamously divisive, Kent has managed to find himself on the favorable side of the bow tie discourse, with his unusual (compared to the standard Capitol necktie) sartorial choice attracting praise on Twitter.

Charlotte Clymer called the look “Maybe the first time in recent memory I’ve seen a bowtie and thought: ‘That looks good,’” while Politico’s Blake Hounshell gave Kent’s “unimpeachable” bow tie game a cheeky nod of approval.

Meanwhile, Buzzfeed’s Josh Billinson did some research into Kent’s bow tie habit, deducing that the bow of the hour — a cream number overlaid with a turquoise medallion print, and the same one Kent wears in his State Department headshot — may be Kent’s favorite.

In addition to the bow tie hype, Kent has also attracted attention on Twitter for his giant Nalgene water bottle, which both dwarfed and silently demonized the mini plastic water bottles his boring necktie-wearing companions sipped.

Is Kent’s bow tie the only thing we should take away from his testimony? Probably not. Is it the only thing many of us will remember about it anyway? Absolutely.

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