Rhode Island lawmaker takes to TikTok to defend herself against critics of her Fourth of July twerking video

• Rhode Island State Sen. Tiara Mack drew flak for posting a TikTok of herself twerking on a beach.
• The clip even drew the attention of Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Rhode Island State Sen. Tiara Mack took to TikTok this week to rebut critics who slammed her for posting a video of herself twerking on a beach on Independence Day.

In the video posted on July 4, Mack performed a headstand while twerking, ending the clip with a cheerful call to "Vote Senator Mack!" She described her performance as "a promised senator thirst trap at Block Island" in the video's caption.

Mack was elected to the Rhode Island state Senate in 2020 after ousting then-incumbent Democratic lawmaker Harold Metts. She is currently up for re-election.

@mackdistrict6

a promised senator thirst trap at Block Island

♬ original sound - Senator Tiara Mack

While Mack's video drew many supportive comments, it also attracted many negative remarks, with some TikTok users stating that her conduct was unbecoming of a politician.

The clip even got the attention of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who spent nearly three minutes of his show on Wednesday slamming Mack. "We saw Tiara Mack, head in the sand, twerking, and we thought, 'Man — that's the Democratic Party,'" Carlson said.

Mack responded to her critics with a series of TikTok videos posted on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In one clip, she responded to a commenter who wrote that they did not want to hear Mack "complain" again about how women are not respected in the US.

"Honey, baby, this ain't it. Because I have an Ivy League degree, and I'm a sitting state senator. It's not about what I'm wearing, it's not about what I'm doing. They won't respect me regardless," Mack said.

In another clip, Mack told a supporter: "I'm trying to determine at which point of envy are these people mad at. Is it the Ivy League degree? Is it the sitting state senator? Is it, like, the bodacious body? Because, like, the hate is real and abundant!"

Mack also posted a video on Wednesday, drawing parallels between the backlash against her TikTok video and the ongoing discourse about body autonomy following the Supreme Court's gutting of Roe v. Wade.

Over on Twitter, Mack quipped about how "twerking upside down really makes the conservative, unhinged internet accounts pop off." She also responded to Carlson in an op-ed published by Newsweek on July 6.

"It's a fun, light-hearted account, similar to my other accounts. I post funny tweets and silly Instagram posts as well," she wrote of the TikTok material.

Mack also called out the "alt-right" and the Rhode Island GOP for attacking her, adding that she thinks Carlson is a "joke."

"As a queer, Black woman I am used to this treatment. It doesn't make it okay, but I realize there are separate rules in society for me. I choose not to follow them, and for many, that is liberating, and for others, it rubs them the wrong way," she wrote in Newsweek.

Mack did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.