Shelly Headen, the Democratic nominee challenging Republican state Rep. John Blust in North Carolina House District 62, faced backlash this week over previous inflammatory posts she made on X and Facebook. More posts are resurfacing today, including a photograph Haeden posted from the Dachau concentration camp memorial in Germany alongside a caption targeting supporters of President Donald Trump.

“Visiting Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany…..This is where Trump supporters belong,” the caption read, according to a screenshot of the post circulating online from Republican groups.

Shelly Headen
Credit: Shelly Headen

The photograph shows Headen smiling in front of the crematorium ovens at the former Nazi concentration camp. Dachau was established in 1933 and operated until 1945. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that at least 188,000 prisoners were incarcerated there during its operation, while the Dachau Memorial Site documents the deaths of tens of thousands of prisoners.

The Dachau post comes after other controversial remarks attributed to Headen surfaced during the campaign. Those include a Facebook comment in which she suggested that an attack on U.S. soil should target Alabama and Louisiana, saying those were places “where the stupid people live.” She has also been reported to have made other hostile comments about Trump and his supporters on social media.

The post joined the many others in prompting renewed scrutiny of Headen’s campaign and was a main factor leading the North Carolina House Democratic Caucus to withdraw its support for her candidacy. Caucus communications director Sam Lozier said Headen’s social-media posts were “unacceptable” and did not reflect the values expected of Democratic candidates. The caucus said it condemned the comments “without qualification” and would no longer support her campaign.

Despite the widespread criticism she received and the Democratic caucus withdrawing its support, Headen said she intends to remain in the race.

Head­en is running against Blust, the longtime Republican incumbent, in the November election. Her campaign describes her as a CPA, business owner and community advocate, with education, health care, housing and fiscal responsibility among her stated priorities.

Because North Carolina's deadline for candidates to remove their names from the ballot has passed, Democrats cannot simply replace Headen with another nominee before the November election. Haeden and her campaign are becoming infamous online as the controversy is widely expected to complicate Democrat efforts to gain ground in the key swing state during the approaching midterms.