A Democrat running for the state legislature in battleground North Carolina remains on the ballot despite her party publicly abandoning her after inflammatory social media posts she made resurfaced.
asserted
she → run → her
The North Carolina House Democratic Caucus and a county party group both condemned posts by Shelly Headen in which the legislative candidate called for an attack on US soil targeting red states and compared President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.
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candidate → condemn → Hitler
But Headen remains a candidate because the filing deadline to drop out of the race was Aug. 20, and the general election ballots are finalized and were sent out to voters starting on Sept. 4.
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ballots → remain → Sept.
Headen, who is challenging Republican state Rep. John Blust for the House District 62 seat in Greensboro-anchored Guilford County, posted a year ago, “I think our only hope is an attack on US Soil … preferably Alabama, Louisiana … where the stupid people live.”
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people → challenge → Soil
In separate posts, she argued that 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.”
uncertain
cult → argue → Nazis
Breitbart reported that a Facebook post by Headen that pictured her at a memorial at the Nazis’ Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where tens of thousands of people were murdered during World War II, with the words, “This is where Trump supporters belong.”
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supporters → report → words
Headen denied last week to the Greensboro News and Record that she posted the concentration camp image and said she believed the image was edited to include the words over a real photo.
Her old comments grabbed new national attention earlier this week when the White House Rapid Response account that supports Trump shared them on X and charged that Democrats “ARE SICK PEOPLE!”
North Carolina Republican US Senate nominee Michael Whatley posted on social media a photo of Headen and former Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democratic Senate nominee, and argued, “Roy Cooper still stands with NC Dem who called for the genocide of Republicans.
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who → deny → Republicans
This is against everything America stands for.”
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America → stand → everything
“These remarks are reprehensible – Roy strongly condemns them and all forms of political violence and he believes it’s up to all of us to speak responsibly,” Cooper’s campaign emphasized in a statement.
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campaign → condemn → statement
Headen, a certified public accountant and small business owner, told WFDD, a public radio station in North Carolina, that she didn’t remember making the posts but apologized to those hurt by them.
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she → tell → them
And she added that she understood the party’s decision to drop support for her.
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she → add → her
But in an interview with The Assembly, a digital-first news operation in North Carolina, Headen defended her posts, describing them as “a few angry moments.”
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Headen → defend → moments
“I’ve sacrificed myself just like Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross, and Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and all the people that put themselves out there to sacrifice for our country,” Headen also told The Assembly.
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Headen → sacrifice → Assembly
MAGA will keep winning if we continue with not standing up for what’s right.
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what → keep → ?
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Report → start → news
The Assembly’s reporting preceded the move by Democrats to drop support.
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reporting → precede → support
“Shelly Headen’s posts are unacceptable and do not reflect the values we expect of our candidates,” the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus said in a statement.
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Caucus → reflect → statement
The caucus added that it “condemns these comments without qualification and will not support Shelly Headen’s candidacy.”
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it → add → candidacy
The Guilford County Democratic Party said in a statement, “We unequivocally reject and condemn the social media posts by Shelly Headen.
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We → say → Headen
These statements violate everything our party represents.
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party → violate → everything
Effective immediately, the county Democratic Party is formally withdrawing all financial, operational and organizational support for Shelley Headen’s campaign.”
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Party → withdraw → campaign
Headen earlier this week told Fox News Digital she’s received death threats in recent days but declined to give any further responses regarding her posts.
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she → tell → posts
In an article published Thursday in The Rhino Times, Headen reiterated, “I’ve been getting death threats, and now all I want to do is protect myself and my family.
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I → publish → myself
My whole world has been collapsing.”
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world → collapse → ?
And she acknowledged that she took down her social media pages, saying, “I don’t have access to any of my accounts anymore.”
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I → acknowledge → accounts
Republicans have spotlighted the controversy.
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Republicans → spotlight → controversy
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall called Headen’s comments “Absolutely disgusting.”
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Hall → call → comments
And the North Carolina House Republicans wrote on X, “Democrat Shelly Headen who is “Running to Restore Human Decency” just posted that she wants an attack on US soil.
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she → write → soil
It is unclear whether Shelly would prefer ISIS or China to attack the United States, but it’s clear she wants an attack.”
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she → prefer → attack
Meanwhile, the popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok argued that Headen “should drop out immediately.
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Headen → argue → TikTok
She doesn’t belong anywhere public office.”
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She → belong → ?
The attention over the resurfaced comments comes a week after Headen faced a separate controversy following a move by State House Republicans to release two 2024 Guilford County Sheriff’s Office incident reports involving her and her husband, Gregory Thomas Headen.
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Headen → resurface → her
The reports, which identify the alleged domestic offense as physical assault, list Headen as the suspect and her husband as the potential victim.
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which → identify → victim
In a statement she released earlier this month, Headen said that during a stressful time in their marriage, she and her husband had “a couple of arguments that escalated.”
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that → release → arguments
She said that, during one argument, her husband grabbed her, causing her to fall backward and hit her head.
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her → say → head
She then called 911.
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She → call → 911
Headen, in her statement, described herself as having experienced abuse.
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Headen → describe → abuse
And she argued that Republicans were using a private family matter for political gain.
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Republicans → argue → gain
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