U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick found himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons this week when his campaign mistakenly identified Philadelphia, Mississippi as the Pennsylvania city in a social media post. His political opponents wasted no time in mocking the error.
On social media platform X, McCormick’s campaign shared a news report discussing a shooting incident in Philadelphia, Mississippi, involving a gang member from El Salvador. In the since-deleted post, McCormick blamed the incident on what he called the “radical open border policies” of incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), whom he is running against.
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Casey’s campaign quickly pointed out the mistake, with communications director Maddy McDaniel highlighting the difference between the two Philadelphias with a humorous post about Philadelphia police cars. Maps of the two cities were also shared to drive the point home.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) jumped in on the fun, joking about McCormick’s Connecticut roots while running for Senate in Pennsylvania. This jab references McCormick’s residency in Connecticut, despite also owning a home in Pittsburgh.
Despite the misstep, McCormick stood by his criticism of Casey, emphasizing that his tweet error pales in comparison to what he sees as the consequences of Casey’s policies. Polling data from RealClearPolling currently shows McCormick trailing Casey by 7.6 points.