KFile: GOP nominee in Michigan swing seat deleted posts implying executions for Trump opponents

Tom Smith for US Congress

A Republican congressional nominee in a closely divided Michigan district deleted social media accounts containing thousands of posts that include a yearslong pattern of inflammatory and conspiratorial rhetoric — including amplifying a post that appeared to raise the possibility of the death penalty for political opponents of President Donald Trump.

Thomas Smith, a 75-year-old retired General Motors employee and Flint-area small-business owner, became the surprise Republican nominee last month after an improbable primary victory over the Trump-endorsed candidate despite suspending his campaign before Election Day.

A CNN KFile review of some 13,000 archived posts from Smith’s now-deleted accounts uncovered a substantially broader pattern of far-right rhetoric than previously reported, including repeated accusations of treason, attacks on Muslim Americans and Islam, birther-style conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, and posts in which Smith said he had been awakened before dawn with a message from God for conservative radio host Dan Bongino.

Smith will face first-term Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet in a district that split its ticket in 2024: McDonald Rivet won her House race by roughly 6 points, while Trump carried the district over Kamala Harris by 3 points. Despite the district’s R+1 partisan lean and its recent history of close elections, the Cook Political Report moved the race from “Lean Democratic” to “Likely Democratic” after Smith’s primary victory.

That shift underscores the potential that Smith’s digital history — largely erased from public view after his unexpected nomination — could loom over a race Democrats might otherwise have struggled to hold.

One of the starkest examples came in February 2025. The account, JarHeadSalsa, named for the Flint salsa business Smith owns with his son, reposted a message addressed to Trump: “Do whatever it takes to take our country back from those who sought to have it destroyed.”

“There are traitors within who deserve to be put on trial for treason,” the post added. “What’s the punishment for treason again?”

A person convicted of treason can be punished by death or be imprisoned for no less than five years.

Smith repeatedly identified himself by name on both JarHeadSalsa accounts as the operator.

One racist repost that Smith shared urged the deportation of the “Somali infestation” of America.

Smith’s own posts could also veer into the unusual.

On three consecutive days in May 2024, he wrote that he had been “awakened at 4:30 AM with a message from God for Dan Bongino.” The message, addressed to the conservative broadcaster who later became deputy FBI director, told Americans of different races that they were “brothers and sisters in Christ” and was signed simply: “God.” Smith posted versions of it again weeks later .

Smith’s posts at times reflected an intense interest in precious metals and mining stocks. Over nine days in February 2025, he posted at least 30 times about Barrick Gold. He tagged dozens of accounts as he urged administration officials and others to help the Canadian mining company move its corporate domicile to the US, including five times to a non-verified account styled as Trump’s granddaughter Kai: “Kai, Can you get this info to your Grandpa.”

Around the same time , Smith asked gold advocate Peter Schiff for investment advice, writing: “60% of my nest egg is in gold silver or copper mining stocks, am I okay?”

The Detroit News reported last week on Smith’s now-deleted JarHeadSalsa social media accounts, including posts supporting efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The newspaper also reported that Smith attended Trump’s January 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington. He later repeatedly shared posts claiming the attack was part of a government setup , staged by federal agents .

Talking Points Memo previously reported Smith’s attendance and some of his social media history, in which Smith denied entering the Capitol or restricted grounds.

Smith did not disavow his older social media activity when responding to The Detroit News. “People can dig through every 10-year-old tweet I ever wrote. That is fine,” he told the newspaper, before criticizing McDonald Rivet’s voting record.

In response to questions from CNN, Smith said in a statement, “Like thousands of peaceful patriots, I attended President Trump’s rally in Washington. After braving the cold for several hours and listening to the President, I returned to my hotel. I did not enter the Capitol or trespass on restricted grounds. My focus is on delivering common sense results for Michigan and defeating Abdul El-Sayed’s partner in socialism Kristen McDonald Rivet at the ballot box this fall.”

Smith’s campaign has undergone a visible reboot since his surprise primary victory on August 4.

On July 16, after what he called “prayerful consideration,” Smith announced he was suspending his campaign and endorsed opponent Al Lemmo, urging his supporters to unite behind him. But Smith remained on the ballot and won anyway, taking about 50% of the vote. Smith later said he was at Lemmo’s election night party when the returns showed him winning and that, by 2 a.m., Republicans had assigned him two campaign managers. He quickly announced he was reentering the race.

His campaign operation has since gotten a serious makeover.

A bare-bones website featuring a district map, a short biography, and links for donations and yard signs has been replaced by a polished red-and-blue site with volunteer sign-ups, fundraising appeals and detailed issue pages. The new site declares , “Tom is in this race to WIN,” and centers his platform on “The Constitution, Faith, Freedom,” while emphasizing constitutional rights, border enforcement, lower taxes and reduced federal spending.

But the professionalized campaign now being built around Smith stands in sharp contrast to the record he left behind online — including his posts before and after January 6.

Two weeks before the Capitol attack, Smith urged others to join him in DC: “Having millions of supporters surrounding the Capitol will be epic. The left needs to see what they are up against.” Sixteen months later, in April 2022, he cited on Truth Social his own presence there to vouch for what happened : “I was there on Jan. 6th and I agree. The Capitol was surrounded before Trump quit speaking.”

The February 2025 post suggesting Trump opponents be punished for treason was hardly the only time Smith’s account amplified accusations that political figures were traitors.

In July 2024, he reposted a message declaring that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “is a traitor.” Last November, after several Democratic lawmakers urged service members to refuse illegal orders, Smith’s account reposted a message calling Rep. Maggie Goodlander a “traitor.” Days later, it amplified anothe r calling for Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, to be stripped of his rank and court-martialed for sedition.

He also shared numerous reposts accusing former President Barack Obama of treason, including one labeling him a “Shadow President .” Another declared that “Treason charges are coming ,” tagging Obama and adding “you are f**ked,” while asking whether he ordered Trump to be assassinated. Another repost on Truth Social called former Rep. Eric Swalwell treasonous and for him to be jailed.

Smith repeatedly amplified birther-style rhetoric, including a repost in September 2024 calling the Biden administration an “evil Kenyan-run White House” — an apparent reference to Obama and the long-running false conspiracy theories that he was born in Kenya and that he secretly ran the Biden White House.

Days later, he reposted a message describing “this illegitimate government led by the Kenyan .” In November , weeks after the election, he shared another one referring to “the corruption and injustice of this Kenyan-run White House.”

Other posts viciously targeted Muslim Americans.

In December 2025, Smith reposted a message that read: “Islam is a cancer that has no place in our Christian nation.” Five weeks later, he shared another from the same account calling to “Eliminate every demonic violent liberal terrorist and deport the corrupt Somali infestation from American soil.”

In May 2024, Smith reposted a debunked image falsely purporting to show Rep. Ilhan Omar at an al Qaeda training camp, alongside a post denouncing “Satan’s evil Islam” and telling “Patriots” to circulate it.

Some of the anti-Islam rhetoric came directly from Smith’s account rather than through reposts.

On August 2 — two days before the Republican primary, when Smith had already suspended his campaign but remained on the ballot, the account posted, “why is pedophilia wrong on Epstein’s island but not in Islam?”

汤姆·史密斯竞选美国国会议员

密歇根州一个选情胶着的选区，一位共和党国会候选人删除了包含数千条帖子的社交媒体账户，这些帖子多年来一直充斥着煽动性和阴谋论言论，其中包括转发一条似乎暗示对唐纳德·特朗普总统的政治对手判处死刑的帖子。

托马斯·史密斯，一位75岁的退休通用汽车员工，同时也是弗林特地区的小企业主，上个月出人意料地成为共和党候选人。尽管他在选举日之前暂停了竞选活动，但他还是在初选中出人意料地击败了特朗普支持的候选人。

CNN KFile 对史密斯已删除账户中约 13,000 条存档帖子的审查发现，其极右翼言论的模式比之前报道的要广泛得多，包括反复指控叛国、攻击美国穆斯林和伊斯兰教、关于巴拉克·奥巴马的出生地阴谋论，以及史密斯声称自己在黎明前被上帝唤醒，并收到保守派电台主持人丹·邦吉诺的信息的帖子。

史密斯将在2024年大选中挑战现任民主党众议员克里斯汀·麦克唐纳·里维特。该选区在2024年的选举中出现了分裂：麦克唐纳·里维特以约6个百分点的优势赢得了众议院选举，而特朗普在该选区以3个百分点的优势击败了卡马拉·哈里斯。尽管该选区共和党略占优势（共和党+1），且近年来选举结果一直胶着，但在史密斯赢得初选后，《库克政治报告》仍将该选区的选情从“倾向民主党”调整为“可能民主党”。

这一转变凸显了史密斯的数字历史——在他意外获得提名后，这些历史基本上从公众视野中消失了——可能会对民主党人原本可能难以保住的选情产生影响。

最鲜明的例子之一发生在 2025 年 2 月。一个名为 JarHeadSalsa 的账户（以史密斯和他儿子在弗林特拥有的莎莎酱生意命名）转发了一条发给特朗普的消息：“不惜一切代价，从那些试图摧毁我们的国家的人手中夺回我们的国家。”

帖子还补充道：“我们内部有叛徒，他们应该因叛国罪接受审判。叛国罪的惩罚是什么来着？”

犯叛国罪的人可被判处死刑或至少五年监禁。

Smith 在 JarHeadSalsa 的两个账号上都多次以自己的名义表明自己是运营者。

史密斯转发的一条种族主义帖子呼吁将“索马里入侵者”驱逐出境。

史密斯自己的帖子也可能出现一些不同寻常的内容。

2024年5月，他连续三天写道，自己“凌晨4点30分被唤醒，收到上帝给丹·邦吉诺的信息”。这条信息是写给这位后来成为联邦调查局副局长的保守派广播员的，信息告诉不同种族的美国人，他们都是“基督里的兄弟姐妹”，署名只有“上帝”。几周后，史密斯再次发布了这条信息的不同版本。

史密斯的帖子有时反映出他对贵金属和矿业股票的浓厚兴趣。2025年2月的九天里，他至少发布了30条关于巴里克黄金公司的帖子。他标记了数十个账户，敦促政府官员和其他人帮助这家加拿大矿业公司将其公司注册地迁至美国，其中包括五次标记一个未经认证的账户，该账户自称是特朗普的孙女凯：“凯，你能把这个消息告诉你爷爷吗？”

大约在同一时间，史密斯向黄金倡导者彼得·希夫寻求投资建议，他写道：“我 60% 的养老金都投资于黄金、白银或铜矿业股票，这样可以吗？”

《底特律新闻报》上周报道了史密斯已被删除的社交媒体账号“JarHeadSalsa”，其中包括支持推翻2020年总统选举结果的帖子。该报还报道称，史密斯参加了特朗普于2021年1月6日在华盛顿举行的“停止窃选”集会。之后，他多次转发帖子，声称此次袭击是政府策划的，由联邦特工一手策划。

Talking Points Memo 此前报道了史密斯的出席情况以及他的一些社交媒体记录，其中史密斯否认进入国会大厦或限制区域。

史密斯在回应《底特律新闻报》时并未否认他早年的社交媒体活动。“人们可以翻看我十年前发的每一条推文。没关系，”他告诉该报，随后又批评了麦克唐纳·里维特的投票记录。

针对CNN的提问，史密斯在一份声明中表示：“和成千上万的和平爱国者一样，我参加了特朗普总统在华盛顿的集会。在寒风中待了几个小时，聆听了总统的演讲后，我返回了酒店。我没有进入国会大厦，也没有擅闯禁区。我的重点是为密歇根州带来切实可行的结果，并在今年秋季的选举中击败阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德的社会主义同伙克里斯汀·麦克唐纳·里维特。”

自 8 月 4 日史密斯意外赢得初选以来，他的竞选活动明显重新启动。

7月16日，经过他所谓的“虔诚的思考”，史密斯宣布暂停竞选活动，并支持对手阿尔·莱莫，敦促支持者团结在莱莫周围。但史密斯的名字仍然出现在选票上，最终还是赢得了选举，获得了约50%的选票。史密斯后来表示，当计票结果显示莱莫获胜时，他正在莱莫的选举之夜派对上。到了凌晨2点，共和党人已经为他指派了两名竞选经理。他随即宣布重新参选。

他的竞选团队此后进行了彻底的重组。

一个原本只有选区地图、个人简介和捐款及竞选标语链接的简陋网站已被一个设计精美、以红蓝为主色调的新网站所取代，新网站增加了志愿者报名、筹款呼吁和详细的议题页面。新网站宣称“汤姆参选必胜”，并以“宪法、信仰、自由”为核心竞选纲领，同时强调宪法权利、边境执法、减税和削减联邦开支。

但如今围绕史密斯建立的专业化竞选活动，与他在网上留下的记录——包括他在 1 月 6 日之前和之后发布的帖子——形成了鲜明的对比。

在国会大厦袭击事件发生前两周，史密斯敦促其他人与他一起前往华盛顿特区：“数百万支持者包围国会大厦将是史诗级的场面。左派需要看看他们面对的是什么。”十六个月后，即2022年4月，他在Truth Social网站上引用自己当时在场的经历来证实所发生的事情：“1月6日我在那里，我同意。在特朗普停止演讲之前，国会大厦就被包围了。”

2025 年 2 月，史密斯发表了一篇帖子，建议以叛国罪惩罚特朗普的反对者。但这并非史密斯的账号唯一一次放大对政治人物是叛徒的指控。

2024年7月，他转发了一条消息，宣称密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默是“叛徒”。去年11月，在几位民主党议员敦促军人拒绝执行非法命令后，史密斯的账号转发了一条消息，称众议员玛吉·古德兰德是“叛徒”。几天后，该账号又转发了另一条消息，呼吁剥夺退役海军上校、参议员马克·凯利的军衔，并以煽动叛乱罪对其进行军事审判。

他还转发了大量指责前总统奥巴马叛国的帖子，其中一条称奥巴马为“影子总统”。另一条帖子宣称“叛国指控即将到来”，并标记了奥巴马，还写道“你完蛋了”，同时质问他是否下令刺杀特朗普。Truth Social 上的另一条转发帖子称前众议员埃里克·斯瓦尔韦尔犯有叛国罪，并要求将其监禁。

史密斯反复强化“出生地阴谋论”式的言论，包括在 2024 年 9 月转发的一篇帖子，称拜登政府是“邪恶的肯尼亚人掌管的白宫”——这显然是指奥巴马以及长期以来流传的虚假阴谋论，即奥巴马出生在肯尼亚，并且他秘密地控制了拜登的白宫。

几天后，他转发了一条消息，称其为“肯尼亚人领导的这个非法政府”。11月，也就是选举几周后，他又转发了一条消息，提到“肯尼亚人掌控的白宫的腐败和不公正”。

其他帖子则恶毒地攻击美国穆斯林。

2025年12月，史密斯转发了一条消息，内容是：“伊斯兰教是毒瘤，在我们基督教国家没有立足之地。” 五周后，他又转发了同一账号发布的另一条消息，呼吁“消灭所有邪恶的暴力自由派恐怖分子，并将腐败的索马里人驱逐出美国领土。”

2024 年 5 月，史密斯转发了一张已被辟谣的图片，该图片错误地声称显示众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔在基地组织训练营，同时还发布了一篇谴责“撒旦的邪恶伊斯兰教”的帖子，并告诉“爱国者”们要传播这张图片。

一些反伊斯兰言论直接来自史密斯的账号，而不是通过转发发布的。

8 月 2 日，也就是共和党初选前两天，当时史密斯已经暂停了他的竞选活动，但仍然在选票上，该账户发帖问道：“为什么恋童癖在爱泼斯坦的岛上是错误的，但在伊斯兰教中却不是？”