South Carolina's Democratic Senator-elect Annie Andrews is under fire after a series of old social media posts trashing Republicans and passionately advocating for transgender rights resurfaced following her Election Night victory, according to Fox News Politics.
Andrews, who won in a state President Donald Trump carried by roughly 18%, presented herself during the campaign as a moderate focused on bipartisan solutions. But the newly surfaced posts, first reported by Fox News Politics, paint a different picture of the candidate before she launched her Senate bid.
In a 2023 post, Andrews wrote: "The T in LGBTQ+ stands for TRANSGENDER. If you don't support trans people, keep your cute pride post in your draft tweets, be better, and try again next year."
Around the same time, she posted: "Periodic reminder that I support trans kids because I am not an a--hole."
Perhaps most incendiary was an August 2024 post in which Andrews declared that the Republican Party "needs to be lit on fire & thrown in the dumpster & plunged into the deepest depths of the ocean never to be seen again," after some social media users mocked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's son.
Andrews also took a personal swipe at GOP Sen. Katie Britt, writing "Wow they let you out of the kitchen. Congrats," in response to a post about Britt discussing a White House visit—a jab referencing women being confined to traditional homemaking roles.
The posts stand in stark contrast to the image Andrews cultivated during her successful campaign against Republican Sen. Darline Graham. At an October town hall billed as "Republicans and Independents for Annie," Andrews pitched her campaign to voters concerned about bills and rural hospitals. She also distanced herself from some of her earlier positions on transgender issues in a campaign ad.
Fox News Politics reported that Andrews worked to appease Republican voters in the lead-up to Election Day, emphasizing bipartisanship while her past statements told a different story.
The timing of the resurfaced posts—after her victory rather than before—raises questions about what South Carolina voters knew when they cast their ballots. Andrews is set to represent a deeply red state where Trump won by nearly 20 points, and her ability to court Republican and independent voters was central to her upset win over Graham.
Neither Andrews' campaign nor her Senate transition office immediately responded to requests for comment from Fox News Politics about the resurfaced posts.
The controversy comes as Republicans nationally are deciding how to counter Democrats who moderate their public image during campaigns while holding more progressive views. Andrews' case is likely to become a rallying cry for conservatives who argue that voters deserve transparency about candidates' true records.
For everyday Americans—particularly parents concerned about transgender policies in schools and taxpayers tired of partisan warfare—the revelations about Andrews' past statements offer a window into the person they just elected. Her call to "light on fire" the Republican Party stands in direct opposition to the unifying tone she struck on the campaign trail.
Our Take
This is what happens when a candidate hides her real record from voters. Annie Andrews ran as a moderate, courted Republicans at town halls, and distanced herself from her own radical positions—then her old posts surfaced the moment the votes were counted. South Carolinians deserved to know who they were electing before they cast their ballots, not after.
The "lit on fire" comment isn't just a rhetorical flourish. It's a window into how the modern Left views half the country—as an enemy to be destroyed rather than an opposition to be debated. Andrews can try to memory-hole her social media history, but the internet doesn't forget, and neither should voters.
The real question now is whether South Carolina Republicans will hold her accountable—or whether they'll let this slide like so many other broken promises from Democrats who say one thing to get elected and another once they're in office. The people of the Palmetto State should demand answers. Will they get them?
