Michigan Democrat Candidate Deleted Radical Social Media Posts
Left 0%
Center 0%
Right 100%
0 left · 0 center · 3 right
What happened
William Lawrence, the Democratic nominee for Michigan's 7th Congressional District, deleted hundreds of social media posts that CNN first reported. Many were written under an older Twitter handle while he was a progressive organizer and co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, and they included calls to abolish the Senate, support a world without police and prisons, end fossil-fuel production, favor open migration, and criticize the nuclear family. Lawrence won the August Democratic primary with about 44 percent of the vote over Bridget Brink and Matt Maasdam and will face Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in November. He told CNN he no longer supports defunding the police or open borders, that his Democratic Socialists of America membership lapsed in July, and that some past posts were online thinking-out-loud he now disagrees with.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 3 articles
2 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It started with a CNN report citing unnamed sources; a named source appeared 3 hours later.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 3
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: William Lawrence
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 3
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
- Credits another outlet 1 of 3
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: CNN
- Unnamed sources 0 of 3
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 4, 17:09 UTC by Breitbart, crediting CNN, with no named source. First named source 3 hours later, from Daily Caller.
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
BLINDSPOT.
Only right-leaning outlets are covering this story
— the other side's media is silent.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage has not reported this story at all. Right-leaning coverage reports that Democratic nominee William Lawrence deleted hundreds of posts calling for abolishing the Senate, police, prisons, and the nuclear family. Right-leaning coverage credits CNN with first reporting the posts. He has since said he no longer supports defunding the police or open borders. Daily Wire and Daily Caller both quote him calling the posts thinking out loud. A reader of left-leaning outlets would not know the nominee in this swing district once urged a world without police and prisons.
Daily Wire's headline calls the candidate possibly the most insane yet, language Breitbart does not use when describing the same posts.
Does Lawrence still support abolishing the Senate and nationalizing fossil fuels, two positions the walk-backs never mentioned?
Bottom line
Michigan Democrat William Lawrence deleted posts that called the nuclear family a violent way of organizing society, according to Daily Wire, and left-leaning coverage has not reported those deletions.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Lawrence deleted hundreds of social media posts calling for abolishing the Senate, police, prisons, and the nuclear family
- Lawrence was arrested in 2013 for resisting officers at an Enbridge Line 5 pipeline protest; the conviction was later expunged
- In 2021 Lawrence posted song lyrics telling Sen. Joe Manchin to hurry up and die so that we can get started
- Lawrence called for ending fossil-fuel production through forced nationalization
- A House Majority PAC poll showed Lawrence up two points, with Barrett at 47 percent unfavorable
The Right View
The Daily Wire, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, and the New York Post reported that Lawrence deleted hundreds of posts backing abolition of police, prisons, and the Senate; forced nationalization to end fossil-fuel production; open borders; and describing the nuclear family as isolating and violent. They highlighted 2021 song lyrics aimed at Sen. Joe Manchin that included "Hurry up and die so that we can get started," plus attacks on moderate Democrats including then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin. Outlets also noted his Sunrise Movement role, lapsed DSA membership, a 2013 pipeline-protest arrest later expunged, and endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Coverage framed the posts as unusually radical for a swing district and reported Lawrence's walk-backs, his admission he has said "dumb things," and his claim that billionaire-funded Super PACs are using deleted tweets against him.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it involves a named candidate, specific quoted posts, original reporting attributed to CNN, and on-the-record replies from Lawrence. It is established that a large volume of posts was deleted and that the quoted language on police, prisons, the Senate, migration, the nuclear family, and Manchin has been reported; it is also established that Lawrence has publicly disavowed some of those positions. What remains contested is how much the old posts should weigh against his current platform and the November race. CNN is credited with the initial report; the follow-on pieces in this set are from right-leaning outlets. Watch for a complete archived post set, independent verification of each quote, debate or interview follow-ups, and further candidate or party statements.
4 sources
- Hundreds Of Deleted Posts Reveal Swing-District Democrat May Be Most Insane Yet
- Report: MI Democrat Candidate William Lawrence Deleted Posts in Favor of Open Borders and Abolishing Police, the Senate, & Traditional Families
- Democrat Candidate Deleted Hundreds Of Posts Calling The Nuclear Family ‘Violent’ And Calling For ‘Overhaul’ Of Constitution
- Lefty Michigan House candidate wished death on centrist Democrats in old social media post: ‘Hurry up and die’
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