State Senator Tiara Mack is under fire for one of her latest posts on TikTok. In the short video, Mack—who is a Democrat representing District 6 in Rhode Island—can be seen in a bikini twerking upside down.
Her video, which has remained on her account, is captioned “a promised senator thirst trap at Block Island.” She ends it by saying “Vote Senator Mack!”
The clip immediately sparked outrage, with onlookers playing into respectability politics. “I don’t ever wanna hear you complain about how ‘women aren’t respected in this country’ after posting this,” one commenter remarked.
Mack replied: “Honey baby. This ain’t it. Because I have an Ivy League degree and I’m a sitting state senator. It’s not about what I’m wearing. It’s not about what I’m doing. They won’t respect me regardless.”
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Conservatives could not wait to pounce on Mack shortly after the video was posted. “Tiara Mack just disgraced herself and disgraced every Black woman running for public office,” tweeted Republican congressional Florida candidate Lauren Spicer.
Renowned white supremacist Tucker Carlson played the clip on his show, using it to mock not only Black people—but the Democratic party as a whole. “You have to wonder why it’s left to this show of all places to announce the rising star, the next rising star in the Democratic Party,” Carlson said before playing the video of Mack.
The senator took to Twitter to express how the media unfairly chooses what to cover when it comes to her career:
“so can the media also cover when I won a national championship in May and named MVP of the match? can the media also cover the 10+ bills I sponsored that the @RISenate never scheduled for a hearing? can the media cover any policy wins had by the youngest Black state senator in Rhode Island? As a Black, queer woman you all should know the answer. It’s no. Let’s them carry on their narrative. Me? I’m going to be joyful, free, and unbothered.”