On February 9, Tom Tiffany, now the Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin, posted that a student drag show at Madison East High School was "unacceptable." He wrote: "We need to refocus our schools on education, not indoctrination, especially when 7 in 10 Wisconsin kids can't read at grade level."

Then the emails started.

Isthmus obtained the messages East High's principal, Patrice Haste, received in the two days after Tiffany's post through an open records request. It reviewed about 50 of them. Most accused school staff of pedophilia or "grooming." Haste reported getting nine emails in a single hour on February 9.

What landed in a principal's inbox

According to Isthmus:

• One email told Haste she "should be in an insane asylum" and to "Stop this today!"
• Another called staff "potential pedophiles" who should be fired and reported to police.
• A third used a slur against gay people and told Haste she should be fired.
• A profane one said the show "will not be tolerated."
• On February 11, a self-described "concerned citizen" sent a Bible verse implying Haste would be better off drowned with a millstone around her neck.

People also called other district staff to complain, and at least one call went to Madison police. On February 10, the school's safety co-director asked Madison police to send two officers to the February 12 show for "support," paid for out of East High's budget.

The show went on as scheduled. These were students putting on a show in their own school theater.

Tiffany lit the fuse, then fanned it

Tiffany didn't post once. He posted on Facebook, where it went viral, and on X from both his campaign account and his official congressional account, quoting conservative radio host Dan O'Donnell.

Two hours after Tiffany's X post, the account Libs of TikTok posted about the show — including Haste's contact details. Tiffany then boosted that post, Isthmus reports — the link it gives is a reply Tiffany posted beneath it.

He has done this before: in Eau Claire, Tiffany reposted Libs of TikTok's attack on a school board member, and police ended up watching her home. That board president, Stephanie Farrar, told the Milwaukee Courier that Tiffany had tried to "incite an online mob against a school board member," as Isthmus recounts.

It has happened at this same school before, too. Isthmus notes that in 2023, Madison East put off its drag show by a month after posts from conservative influencers led to harassment.

Tiffany's campaign did not respond to Isthmus's requests for comment.

Quiet on the trail, loud online

On the campaign trail this fall, Tiffany has mostly stayed away from culture-war fights. A UW-La Crosse political scientist told Isthmus that's likely because polls show voters care most about prices and inflation.

But his record tells you what he does when he thinks fewer people are watching. He has pushed a state "parents' bill of rights" aimed at transgender students. And when a group of high school students staged a show, the man who wants to be Wisconsin's governor pointed his followers at them — and at the principal whose job is to keep them safe.

What the records show

Tom Tiffany called a Madison East High student drag show "unacceptable" in February, then boosted a Libs of TikTok post that published the principal's contact details. In the next two days the principal received about 50 emails, most accusing staff of pedophilia or grooming, including one implying she'd be better off drowned, and the school asked police for two officers at the show. It is at least the second time Tiffany has amplified a Libs of TikTok attack on a Wisconsin school official, and his campaign would not comment.

Source

After Tiffany drag show post, Madison East High principal received abusive, threatening emails, Liam Beran, Isthmus, October 28, 2026.