Michele Tafoya, a former sports broadcaster, is running as the Republican nominee to be Minnesota’s next US Senator. Yet she’s said repeatedly that she’s ‘embarrassed’ of the state she and the 5 million people she wants to represent call home.
Recently reported by CNN’s KFILE, Tafoya lied in a local radio interview when asked about her past comments that she is embarrassed to live in Minnesota. But old Twitter archives–along with other more recent video clips–tell the truth.
Deleted tweets
In a WCCO Radio live interview at the Minnesota State Fair last month, Tafoya was asked about her past comments about being ‘embarrassed’ by Minnesota. She responded, “If I were embarrassed to be from Minnesota, would I be running for the United States to represent Minnesota? … I have never said that.” But, CNN’s KFILE dug up since-deleted tweets that prove otherwise.
In these tweets, Tafoya doesn’t just talk about being embarrassed of Minnesota, she repeatedly talks about how she wants to leave the state because of it. She also likens her home state of California to Minnesota several times, comparing the two negatively.
In March 2023, Tafoya tweeted, “I’m embarrassed to say I live in Minnesota. This state has gone so far left it’s amazing any of the snow still sticks.” When someone responded to her saying, “You can leave,” she said, “That’s the plan! Have a great day!” When another user responded to Tafoya’s comment, saying she’ll love living somewhere else and that they’re “escaping CA in 2024 myself,” Tafoya said, “I grew up in the Golden State. So sad.”
Another user responded to the thread, asking about Tafoya’s threat to leave, saying “promise??” She responded, “Yes. I want to make you and your 35 followers happy.” One user said they would “love to have you in Tennessee.” Tafoya replied, “TN is under consideration!”
In August 2024, she responded to a tweet calling Minnesota the “California Midwest” by saying, “As a native Californian who moved to Minnesota in 1994, I know. Fleeing soon.”
In October 2024, Tafoya responded to an image saying, “Right there with you ladies. From a former Californian and a future former-Minnesotan (which is doing its best to copy the Golden State.”
In August 2025, Tafoya responded to a tweet by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who spoke about mass school shootings and blamed the GOP for continuing “to do absolutely nothing while our kids are being gunned down.” She responded, “You @GavinNewsom are sick for politicizing this tragedy while people are mourning! I was born in CA and left…I moved to Minnesota and will be leaving. The GOP is in charge of neither state.”
Common theme
Dismissing the state she is running to represent in the US Senate is a common theme for Tafoya. While all of the deleted tweets listed above were in the past three years, she has made similar, more recent comments.
In a C-SPAN interview in August 2026, Tafoya said, “The last people I’m going to answer to are the Minnesotans who send me there.” In a confusing follow-up comment, she then said she wants to bring “Minnesota common sense” to Washington so there is “some sober leadership with a spine back in the Senate.”
That same month, Tafoya appeared on Fox News’ “America Reports.” When questioned about polling showing her opponent, DFL Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, was leading, she said, “Minnesotans are exhausted and John [host], quite frankly they’re embarrassed. I have talked to hundreds of voters in Minnesota who have told me, ‘Gosh, I went on vacation this summer. I didn’t want to tell people where I was from because it’s embarrassing.’ And it’s true.” This interview prompted WCCO Radio to ask Tafoya about her comments later that month, which she then denied.
In the WCCO Radio interview, Tafoya did admit that she had wanted to leave Minnesota because, “Well two years ago I was in that place.” She cited her kids going through school and wanting to stay in the state, so she did.
But, her campaign only began this year, and she still mentions Minnesota embarrassment on her campaign website. “She believes Minnesota deserves better than the corruption and fraud scandals that have dominated national headlines and embarrassed the state she loves.”
Flanagan’s state pride
While Tafoya continues to make statements about the embarrassment she feels about Minnesota, Flanagan has shown nothing but pride for her state.
In a tongue-in-cheek response to Tafoya’s FOX News comments in August, Flanagan posted to Threads saying, “I love Minnesota. I’m proud to be a Minnesotan. Who wouldn’t be? ;)”
In September she made a similar post to Instagram. In a post featuring her hugging someone, she said, “I’m proud to be a Minnesotan. More than anything, I’m proud to be your neighbor.”
At the Minnesota State Fair, in the same time period when Tafoya was interviewed by WCCO Radio, Courier Minnesota interviewed Flanagan. When asked about why she shows up to the fair each year–besides to have fun–Flanagan said it’s a great way to meet people “from all walks of life” and hear about their “Minnesota pride.”
We asked her about that pride and Tafoya’s comments, to which Flanagan responded, “I have never been more proud to be Minnesotan than I am right now…I could never be embarrassed to be a Minnesotan.”
