As I joined the growing number of tuxedoed Washingtonians abandoning their Ubers on 14th Street, choosing to brave the frigid temperatures rather than wait another minute behind a blockade, I tried to ignore the biting wind and focus on my mantra: I have to make it to the TikTok party.
Shuffling down the road, I wondered what to expect. Would the Inauguration Eve shindig be just another DC party full of lobbyists and waiters circulating with chicken skewers? Or would I be plunged headfirst into an unfamiliar scene and spend the night awkwardly mingling with too-cool influencers?
It was a little bit of both. I waited in line with a prominent conservative tweeter and a newly-minted White House staffer. The second we got inside, I saw a platoon of trendy partygoers jostling to get their fur-collared overcoats from coat check as a clip of Matt Walsh played on the screen behind them.
Turning…
