Shelly Headen, a Democrat running for the state legislature in North Carolina’s House District 62, has faced a wave of condemnation after posts comparing MAGA supporters to Nazis surfaced online. Her opponents have condemned her, her own party has dropped her, and her posts have been shared widely by the White House Rapid Response account on X and by Republican candidates. Yet she remains on the ballot.
Headen faces Republican state Rep. John Blust in the race for House District 62, a Greensboro-anchored seat. A year ago, she posted online that “our only hope is an attack on US Soil … preferably Alabama, Louisiana … where the stupid people live.” In separate posts, she said the damage done by Trump was “getting close to surpassing Hitler” and claimed the “MAGA cult may be more destructive and evil than the Nazis.”
One Facebook post showed her at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany with the caption “This is where Trump supporters belong,” though she denies posting it. The North Carolina House Democratic Caucus and the Guilford County Democratic Party both condemned her posts and dropped support for her.
The Posts That Cost Her Support
Headen told WFDD she didn’t remember making the posts but apologized to those hurt by them. She defended the posts to The Assembly, calling them “a few angry moments.” She compared herself to Jesus, Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln, saying, “I’ve sacrificed myself just like Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross.”
In The Rhino Times, she said, “I’ve been getting death threats, and now all I want to do is protect myself and my family. My whole world has been collapsing.” She said she took down her social media pages, stating, “I don’t have access to any of my accounts anymore.”
The White House Rapid Response account shared her posts on X, charging that Democrats “ARE SICK PEOPLE!” North Carolina Republican US Senate nominee Michael Whatley posted a photo of Headen with former Gov. Roy Cooper, arguing Cooper stands with a candidate who called for the genocide of Republicans. Cooper’s campaign responded, “These remarks are reprehensible – Roy strongly condemns them and all forms of political violence.”
Republicans, including House Speaker Destin Hall and the North Carolina House Republicans, have also condemned her posts.
Two 2024 Guilford County Sheriff’s Office incident reports involving Headen and her husband, Gregory Thomas Headen, show physical assault allegations with Headen listed as the suspect and her husband as the potential victim. Headen described herself as having experienced abuse in a statement released earlier this month.
What Stays On The Ballot
The filing deadline to drop out of the race was Aug. 20, and ballots were finalized and sent to voters starting Sept. 4. That means Headen remains on the ballot despite the condemnations from her own party.
She told Fox News Digital she’s received death threats but declined to comment further on her posts.
Here is how her opponents have responded:
- The White House Rapid Response account shared her posts on X.
- Michael Whatley used a photo of Headen with Roy Cooper to tie her to a candidate who called for the genocide of Republicans.
- Cooper’s campaign condemned the remarks.
- Destin Hall and the North Carolina House Republicans have condemned her posts.
The posts are still online, and the election is still set. Headen is stuck on the ballot, and her opponents have made that a central part of their message.
This is a story about how fast a political career can collapse, and how little effort it takes for a candidate to become a national talking point. Headen did not simply lose support; she lost it from her own party, from the governor’s office, and from the White House. That is a rare position, and it shows how quickly a single set of posts can change the terms of a race.
The election is coming. Headen remains on the ballot, and her opponents have made her posts the defining feature of the campaign. Voters in House District 62 will see her name on the ballot, alongside the posts that brought this attention down on her.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs neither candidate in the election but is against treating the race as a horse race between two machines that both gather power, and it reserves judgment on Shelly Headen’s posts against MAGA supporters as an issue to be judged against its own north star of individual freedom, small business, and avoiding concentrations of power. Headen’s posts are vile, and the condemnation from her own party and the governor’s office is justified. But the paper does not judge an election solely by the conduct of one candidate, nor does it treat politics as a contest between two parties that both concentrate power.
Source material: “Dems abandon candidate who said MAGA is ‘more destructive’ than Nazis — but she’s stuck on ballot,” the New York Post.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.