Minnesota GOP Senate Candidate Says ‘It’s Embarrassing’ To Be From the State

Michele Tafoya, who won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Minnesota on Tuesday, said it is “embarrassing” for Minnesotans to tell people in other states where they live.

Tafoya, a former sportscaster for multiple networks, including ESPN, joined Wednesday’s edition of America Reports on Fox News, where John Roberts pointed to polls showing her trailing Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who clinched the Democratic nomination. One early poll shows Flanagan leading Tafoya by eight points. Flanagan, a progressive, defeated Rep. Angie Craig, who was backed by the Democratic establishment.

“The reality, politically, is that there has not been a Republican senator in that state since Norm Coleman lost reelection back in 2008,” Roberts noted. “The cards are stacked against you, it would seem. Flanagan, in early polling, is up about six or seven points. No question, you’ve got a big hill to climb there.”

Tafoya responded by insisting that Minnesotans have told her that when vacationing elsewhere, they are reluctant to tell people where they live because it is “embarrassing.” The Republican candidate then said she agreed with that sentiment.

“We think all those Angie Craig voters who feel that the Democrat party has left them, that the Democrat party has lurched away to the left, way toward socialism, they know where it’s headed,” Tafoya said. “Minnesotans are exhausted, and John, quite frankly, they’re embarrassed. I have talked to hundreds of voters in Minnesota who have told me, ‘Gosh come I went on vacation this summer. I didn’t want to tell people where I was from because it’s embarrassing.’ And it’s true! We have people leaving. Just like everyone else talks about these people leaving, businesses fleeing. You’re talking about philanthropy, innovation. All kinds of taxpayer-funded things leaving because taxpayers are leaving. This is untenable. We’re gonna save Minnesota.”

Tafoya went viral on social media on Wednesday after a clip of her talking about the Iran war back in March resurfaced. On a conservative radio program, she addressed surging gas prices as a result of the conflict.

“I think right now, at least just kind of keeping a stiff upper lip, maybe you take one less trip to Starbucks and so that gas goes a little further, until this thing is over and these gas prices come back down again,” she said at the time. “Let’s just try to be patriots about this.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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