Republican Candidate Says She Never Called Minnesota 'Embarrassing.' A Deleted Post Tells A Different Story
CNN’s review found Tafoya had said at least four times over three years that she planned to leave Minnesota.
- On Wednesday, CNN's KFile team surfaced a deleted 2023 post where Republican Senate nominee Michele Tafoya wrote, "I'm embarrassed to say I live in Minnesota," directly contradicting her recent claim to a radio interviewer that she never expressed such embarrassment.
- Before launching her campaign, Tafoya told followers at least four times over three years she planned to leave Minnesota, frequently describing the state as no longer "safe, clean or beautiful" because of its politics and Democratic leadership.
- The candidate identified as a part-time Floridian and replied, "That's the plan!" when a user suggested she leave, later adding she considered moving to Tennessee while praising Florida as a model of conservative governance.
- Minnesota's Democratic Farmer Labor Party dubbed Tafoya the state's "biggest hater" in an August press release, as she competes against Democratic nominee Peggy Flanagan for the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Tina Smith.
- Despite past comments, Tafoya stated, "I love Minnesota and I got into this race to fight for it," and said her children, who attend school in the state and "love it here," changed her mind about leaving.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Minnesota GOP Senate candidate denied saying she’s ‘embarrassed’ to be from state. CNN has receipts
Deleted tweets from Minnesota Republican Senate candidate Michele Tafoya are coming back to bite her. Earlier this month, the former sports broadcaster turned GOP candidate told local radio station WCCO, “I’ve never said I was embarrassed to be from Minnesota…
Republican busted for flagrantly lying about being 'embarrassed' of her home state
Michele Tafoya, the Republican Senate nominee in Minnesota, recently denied ever saying she was embarrassed to be from the state she wants to represent, but a digital deep-dive review by CNN's KFile found she had done just that.In a local radio interview earlier this month, the former NFL sideline reporter was asked whether Minnesota embarrassed her, and she insisted that wasn't true. "If I were embarrassed to be from Minnesota, would I be runni…
Fact-check busts GOP nominee’s claim she’s not 'embarrassed' by her state
Republican strategists are hoping that if Democrats are able to flip any GOP-held U.S. Senate seats in the 2026 midterms, they will be able to offset the losses by doing some flipping of their own. One of the states they're looking at is Minnesota, where Republican Michele Tafoya is up against the Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. But Tafoya now finds herself in a controversy over past criticism of Minnesota she is now trying to dista…
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