David Crowley, Milwaukee County Executive and the Democrats’ hastily recycled answer to socialist Francesca Hong, is now in full damage control mode over a long dormant Twitter burner account that spewed crude remarks about women and the LGBTQ crowd.
NBC News reported Wednesday that Crowley set up the account under the handle @No_pork_plz and the alias “Dirt McGirk” over a decade ago. The posts, mostly from 2010 to 2012, were laced with derogatory shots at women and LGBTQ folks. Now, Crowley’s spinning the classic ‘it wasn’t me’ routine, claiming the account was a group effort, and he’s not responsible for the most inflammatory posts.
“I strongly condemn the language,” Crowley said through his campaign, alleging that he had not controlled the account exclusively.
The timing could not be worse for the candidate Democrats hoped would stop Hong. Crowley dropped out of the governor’s race earlier this month, endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, then jumped back in days later with Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement and a new television ad after Rodriguez exited amid a campaign-finance implosion. His own internal poll released the same day as the Twitter revelations still showed him trailing Hong by 21 points.
It didn’t take long for X users to spot the account’s not-so-subtle self-references and retweets of Crowley’s own official county executive posts. Nothing says ‘not my account’ like retweeting yourself.
This is the latest example of late-stage damage control for a candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Crowley positioned himself as the experienced, electable problem-solver capable of beating Republican Tom Tiffany. Instead, voters are learning about a burner account whose content stands antithetical to the inclusive image he now projects.
With the Democratic primary just weeks out and early voting already rolling, the Dirt McGirk saga is a gift-wrapped present for both Hong and Mandela Barnes as they scramble to fend off the establishment’s last-minute push. Crowley can protest all he wants, but the account with his own nickname is now out in the open, and voters have heard the ‘it wasn’t me’ excuse more times than they can count.
