Across the country, many Americans will gather this weekend to remember and honor those who gave their lives in service to the nation. Shelby Campbell, however, will not be among them. Campbell is a candidate in Michigan’s Democratic primary for the 13th Congressional District, which includes portions of Detroit and some of its suburbs.
She has built her campaign around provocation — relying on edgy rhetoric, inflammatory stunts, and degrading online content to attract attention. Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, she released a new video urging voters to “quit thanking the troops for sacrificing their lives” for their country.
Campbell has since deleted the video. But not before it was published by X account Libs of TikTok:
In the brief clip below, the candidate says:
Quit thanking the troops for sacrificing their lives. Let’s start saying, ‘Hey Government, how about you go fight these wars if you decide.’I don’t want to thank these men and women who join the military because they had no other option. Like, they didn’t want to go to school. They didn’t have the resources. They don’t have the knowledge. They don’t have people to like, love them. And, [yawning] they go into the military. Military preys on more rural populations.
This woman plainly has no idea what she is talking about, but the fact that she chose to record and publish such vile remarks tells voters everything they need to know about her judgment.
Users on X seemed less outraged than bewildered by her foolish attempt to generate attention for her campaign:
One day later, she posted another video that was just as offensive — and, remarkably, it remains online.
The backlash was fast and furious:
In another, she recorded herself twerking in her family room:
In a Monday expose, Michigan media outlet Firstpost reported that in a recent video, she can be seen “twerking and crouching on a kitchen counter before declaring, ‘I am an ethical person. I am a classy b**ch, am I not?'”
In another, she says, “White ladies, I’m glad that we are becoming the enemy to the white man as well. I’m proud of you. Now let’s get it, girls.”
She has also made incendiary remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Campbell’s campaign website appears ordinary enough. Aside from a few odd — though not risqué — outfit choices, it reads much like what you’d expect from a populist candidate. According to her biography, she was “raised in a working-class household where hard work wasn’t a slogan—it was survival.” She touts her experience in the service industry and on the assembly line and notes that she comes “from a third-generation UAW family that taught me early on what real solidarity means.”
She is a working-class woman and a mother “who has lived the outcomes of policies made without people like us at the table.”
I know what it means to clock in, to raise a family under economic pressure, and to watch decisions made far away ripple through our lives with no accountability. That’s why I’m running for Congress — to bring real-world experience, transparency, and working-class values into a system that has long prioritized profit over people.This campaign is funded by everyday people, not lobbyists or billionaires. It’s about collective power, shared responsibility, and leadership that actually reflects the communities it serves.
It raises an obvious question: why does she believe that videos of herself twerking and referring to herself with crude language will resonate with voters? Rather than reinforcing a serious political message, the clips risk distracting from whatever policy arguments she hopes to make.
She is running to unseat Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), who is something of a strange bunny as well. The primary will be held on August 4, but so far, there appears to be no meaningful polling for this race.
Still, it’s hard to imagine she’ll come anywhere close to winning her primary. As one social media user put it: “Bro, this is her actual campaign strategy? Twerking in the living room for votes in 2026 Single mom energy mixed with OnlyFans audition. Michigan really out here picking leaders like this? Policy? Nah, just vibes and squats. The bar is in hell at this point.”
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
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