Michigan Senate Democratic candidate Mallory McMorrow said on Sunday that deleting thousands of tweets trashing rural America reflects her authenticity rather than an effort to hide her past.
A CNN report this week found that the Senate hopeful had deleted about 6,000 tweets — including posts mocking Middle America and bending the truth about where she was living, working, and voting.
In a recent autobiography, McMorrow said she moved to Michigan in 2014, but on social media, she described herself as a California resident in 2016 and voted in California’s June 2016 primary, according to CNN.
Reporter Manu Raju pressed McMorrow on the contradictions.
“And I don’t need to tell you, but of course, you’re required to vote in the state where you’re a resident. So why were you voting in California two years after moving to Michigan?” Raju asked.
“Like a lot of millennials, moving takes time,” McMorrow said, describing a “two-year process” before settling in Michigan from Southern California. “I registered to vote in Michigan in August of 2016 and voted in the general election in November that year.”
McMorrow dodged when asked whether she should have voted in California while claiming to live in Michigan.
“We still had our place out in Southern California, and as I mentioned, we had multiple jobs. Moving is ugly. I wish we could have just up and moved in one fell swoop, but that’s not the case, just like it is for a lot of people,” she said.
Raju noted that in 2024, McMorrow criticized another Twitter user for voting in Michigan after moving to California.
“You called it illegal then,” Raju told McMorrow.
“Yeah, absolutely, if you are doing that intentionally, after moving permanently to a place that is illegal,” she said.
CNN: “Why would you be voting in California 2 years after moving to Michigan?”
MCMORROW: “Moving takes time.”
CNN: “You had criticized a Twitter user in 2024 for voting in Michigan after moving to California, you called it illegal…”
MCMORROW: “Yeah, absolutely.” pic.twitter.com/kE4xYSuXdo
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 3, 2026
Two days after President Trump rocked the political establishment and defeated Hillary Clinton, the Democrat urged her followers to read a thread posted by journalist Patrick Thornton, who wrote, “All of this talk about coastal elites needing to understand more of America has it backwards.”
“It is much of white working class America that needs to reach outside its comfort zone and meet people not like them,” Thornton wrote at the time. “Many rural Americans have isolated themselves from the rest of the country. They live in very unrepresentative areas.” McMorrow said the thread “rings 100%.”
McMorrow, who currently serves in the Michigan State Senate, framed her comments as evidence of her authenticity.
“Was it the most eloquent tweet I’ve ever tweeted? No, I’ve tweeted 1000s of times. There is a level of authenticity and just grappling in the wake of the 2016 election, of how somebody like Donald Trump could have been elected.”
Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow defends her tweet calling middle Americans “backwards.”
CNN: “Do you stand by that sentiment that rural parts of America can learn from coastal elites?”
MCMORROW: “I stand by that.”
That’s the quiet part out loud. pic.twitter.com/objg7VHcSy
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 3, 2026
In another tweet, McMorrow drew comparisons between Nazi Germany and the Trump Administration, a view she still holds today.
“Do you personally see parallels between Nazi Germany and what’s happening under the Trump administration?” Manu Raju asked her.
“Yeah, I do. It is deeply concerning that we see an authoritarian slide,” McMorrow said. “I don’t think that a lot of people would argue that there are shades of authoritarianism here that we need to be deeply concerned about.”
The winner of the divided Democratic primary, which also includes Abdul El-Sayed and Congresswoman Haley Stevens, will likely face Republican Mike Rogers in the general election.
“I tweeted normal things, like a normal person, and people are desperate for authenticity, so that is what we need in November,” McMorrow said.
CNN: “Why would you be voting in California 2 years after moving to Michigan?”
MCMORROW: “Moving takes time.”
CNN: “You had criticized a Twitter user in 2024 for voting in Michigan after moving to California, you called it illegal…”
MCMORROW: “Yeah, absolutely.” pic.twitter.com/kE4xYSuXdo
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 3, 2026
