More On: Tiara Mack
Tiara Mack, a state senator from Rhode Island, doesn't feel bad about twerking on TikTok
The Rhode Island state senator who went viral when she posted a video of herself twerking in a bikini on the Fourth of July has no regrets about the performance and would do it all over again.
Sen. Tiara Mack, a first-term Democrat, got a lot of criticism after she posted an 8-second clip of herself twerking upside down while doing a handstand on the beach to her official TikTok page.
Her TikTok account was also temporarily shut down, and after she made the post, she got death threats.
But Mack hasn't been stopped by the backlash to the video. She told a local news station, WPRI, that she's used the reactions to start a meaningful conversation.
“It’s been so exciting and fascinating to dive into these conversations with people and to really challenge their thinking,” the 28-year-old lawmaker said in an interview with WPRI politics editor Ted Nesi.
Mack added that she was just being herself, a young black queer woman, on her day off.
“I’ve struggled with the idea that in order to be respected, I have to be fully clothed and buttoned up and I have to be performing in a way that is inauthentic to myself,” she told WPRI.
Mack, who was elected in 2020 and is running for re-election, dismissed critics of her video as racists and misogynists and said her TikTok post is nothing out of the ordinary for a young person to post.
“My behavior on my Twitter, Instagram and TikTok are consistent with a young millennial who is in office and challenging norms,” she told the Associated Press. “I’m showing that leadership looks different and welcoming people into the many different facets of my life.”
The video in question — which Mack filmed on Block Island and ended with an enthusiastic “Vote Senator Mack!” — has been viewed more than 220,000 times.
“It was a way to show that elected officials can be silly and have fun and enjoy a day off,” she said, adding that state senators in Rhode Island are considered part-time workers.
Some commentators applauded the candid clip.
“I need to see more politicians doing [this],” one wrote.
“Tempted to move to RI just to say this is my senator,” another fan wrote, as others said she had sealed their support.
But some people thought it was wrong for a lawmaker to post it, and Republicans in Rhode Island and all over the country jumped at the chance to use it to attack the left.
Tucker Carlson made fun of Mack's video on his Fox News show. He said that her "demonstrated talent" showed that she was "the next rising star in the Democratic Party."
The lawmaker's TikTok account was fixed on Wednesday, and she has since used it to respond to the backlash and use the media attention to talk about issues she cares about.
Mack said that she hopes the video will bring attention to issues like abortion rights, environmental protection, solitary confinement, and the black wealth gap, where black people don't have as much money as white people.
She has since started a campaign “#twerkfor” to promote her goals.
