US Congress candidate Shelby Campbell explains powerful reason behind video twerking in kitchen
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@shelby4congress
Michigan Democrat candidate for Congress, Shelby Campbell, has opened up about the empowering reason she posted a video of herself twerking on top of her kitchen counter.
The candidate, 32, has been slammed online after posting the controversial clip, with many users claiming she is 'proof' that 'Democrats are not sending their best'.
Campbell, a single mom, posted the video on TikTok, which has since racked up millions of views, as part of her campaign for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which includes parts of Detroit and several suburbs.
But the democrat has opened up about the liberating reason behind sparking debate with her content.
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"It was meant to get attention, and clearly it worked," she said, speaking to UNILAD.
The 32-year-old added: "Politics has become a performance whether people want to admit it or not.
"I would rather use that reality to force people to pay attention than sit quietly and pretend the current system is dignified."
She noted that the American people are no longer shocked when women are 'harassed, sexualized, insulted, threatened, or mocked online for months'.
"I responded to people who had already decided to make me the joke," she confessed, "So I made the joke bigger."
Campbell stated that the video was entirely satire, with the sole intention of getting people talking.
The Michigan candidate added: "The video is absolutely a joke. My platform is not.
"It is satire about sexism, online harassment, respectability politics, and the impossible standards women are held to."
But the real issues, she claims, are 'underneath it'.
The mom-of-one said that women are constantly sexualized, and that the 'hypocrisy' of it all is everywhere.
"We blame victims, we protect powerful men," she added.
Where politics are concerned, Campbell says she believes sex work should be legalized.
"That does not mean ignoring exploitation - it means actually confronting it."
Speaking about the powerful message beyond the playful video, she added: "So yes, the video is a joke. But sexism is not a joke. Exploitation is not a joke.
"The way this country treats women and working people is not a joke."
Her goals if she was to be elected include 'universal healthcare, housing as a human right, getting corporate money out of politics, universal basic income', and much more.
The first-time candidate’s website states that she is a 'working-class woman' and not a career politician.
Opening up to voters, she admitted: "I’ve been to jail. I’ve been judged. And I’ve gotten back up, like so many here."