August 29, 2024
Jasper Colt/USA Today
On social media, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick shared a news story on gang violence in Philadelphia, Mississippi, mistakenly believing it was about Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Above, McCormick speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick was mocked by his political opponents Wednesday after his campaign confused Philadelphia, Mississippi for the Pennsylvania city in a social media post.
On X, formerly Twitter, the Republican's campaign shared a report from a Mississippi news station that referenced a shooting in Philadelphia that allegedly was carried out by a gang member from El Salvador.
McCormick's post read: "MS-13 gang members are terrorizing Philadelphians because of (Kamala) Harris & (Bob) Casey's radical open border policies." McCormick is running against incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.).
The post was quickly deleted, but not before Casey's campaign took a screenshot of the error.
Wrote Maddy McDaniel, communications director for Casey, in an X post: "Dave, this story is from Philadelphia, Mississippi — not Philadelphia, PA."
Dave, this story is from Philadelphia, Mississippi — not Philadelphia, PA. #PASen pic.twitter.com/woRGWUH2bs
— Maddy McDaniel (@maddymcdaniel14) August 28, 2024
In another post, McDaniel shared an image of a Philadelphia police car, writing: "Philly cop cars look like this — hope this helps!"
Casey's campaign also sarcastically posted images of maps showing the locations of Philadelphia, Mississippi and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
We're big fans of maps on Team Casey - here are a few for @DaveMcCormickPA: pic.twitter.com/5iaeKXxfeb
— Team Casey (@BobCaseyHQ) August 28, 2024
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), joined in on the mockery, writing on X: "Things like this tend to happen for people who live in Connecticut but run for the Senate in Pennsylvania."
Fetterman's post referenced McCormick's residency in Connecticut, though he also owns a home in Pittsburgh.
In response to the criticism, McCormick acknowledged the mistake but stuck with his criticism of Casey.
"We made a mistake on our tweet, and that's not nearly as bad as Bob Casey making a mistake leaving the border wide open," McCormick wrote in an X post that included screenshots of news headlines.
Polling data from RealClearPolling shows McCormick trails Casey by 7.6 points.
