Michigan Democrat William Lawrence, the nominee in the closely contested 7th Congressional District, has deleted hundreds of past social media posts that expressed radical viewpoints on issues including policing, immigration, and the U.S. Senate. The resurfaced messages, many from 2020 and 2021 when Lawrence was active as a progressive organizer, have drawn attention as he campaigns against Republican Representative Tom Barrett.
CNN KFile reported that among the deleted posts was a 2021 message praising the Minneapolis activist group Black Visions and its campaign to defund the police. Lawrence wrote at the time that the movement had brought the country "nearer to a world without police and prisons." He also advocated for the "forced nationalization" of fossil-fuel companies and, in response to a question about open borders, emphatically stated that "anybody should be able to move anywhere."
Lawrence also called for the abolition of the Senate and argued for a "fundamental overhaul" of the Constitution. In a particularly sharp post from December 2021, he directed critical lyrics at older Democrats opposing climate agenda provisions, writing, "Our generation says fk you for everything... Hurry up and die so that we can get started."
Lawrence has stated that he no longer agrees with some of these past positions. In a statement to the Daily Mail, he said, "Like many millennials, I've done my fair share of thinking out loud on the internet. I've been clear that I disagree today with some things I posted in the past. I don't support defunding the police or open borders."
Some of Lawrence's past online commentary also targeted fellow Democrats. After former Representative Abigail Spanberger criticized the "defund the police" movement, Lawrence accused moderate Democrats of having a "tantrum" and suggested that "timid Dems" should leave the party. He also encouraged Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a primary, declaring, "It's time for the Dem civil war to rage."
Lawrence also expressed criticism of Michigan Democrat Elissa Slotkin, writing he was "ashamed to be represented" by her and calling her a "supposed Democrat." In his statement to the Daily Mail, Lawrence retracted that remark, describing Slotkin as someone who has been "fiercely critical" of the Trump administration's actions in Iran and is "doing essential work to protect the integrity of the upcoming election."
Further posts from 2022 reportedly criticized the traditional family structure, describing the nuclear family home as an "isolating, individualistic, violent way of organizing society."
Lawrence addressed the controversy directly on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, accusing "billionaire-funded Super PACs" of launching attack ads and "dredging up old tweets that I deleted because I didn't agree with them anymore." He asserted that he had been "fiercely critical of BOTH parties" and admitted to having "said some dumb things."
He contrasted his past online comments with his current platform, stating, "Unlike Tom Barrett, I've never voted to cut families' health care. I've never voted for a senseless war. I've never voted to give tax breaks to data center developers. And I've never taken money from a corporation profiting from all of this." He added, "I don't take orders from billionaires or party bosses. That's why these billionaires are going all out to try to defeat me."
Lawrence won the Democratic primary in August and is set to face Barrett in November in Michigan's 7th District, a seat that Donald Trump carried by less than two percentage points in 2024. The race is considered a key contest that could influence control of the House of Representatives.