With brave Iranian citizens currently being murdered for revolting against the theocratic and terroristic regime, it’s worth remembering the time Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes gave Iran’s supreme leader a big shout-out on X.
The weird post came in 2015, when the platform was still Twitter. Barnes managed to give a shout-out to Black Lives Matter in the same tweet, while wishing the Iranian leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei a “wonderful year.”
“The first tweet of 2015 from @khamenei_ir is #BlackLivesMatter. Let that sink in. May This be a most wonderful year for you and yours.” He wrote the tweet as a reply to a post from Khamenei. Khamenei had tweeted, “The issue of US govt oppression against blacks is a 100s year-old issue. #BlackLivesMatter 395 Years a Slave!”
Most recently, on January 3, Khamenei was tweeting things like, “We will bring the enemy to its knees.”
Congressman Tom Tiffany, who is running for Wisconsin governor as a Republican, reposted Barnes’ tweet on January 8.
“Since @TheOtherMandela forgot he tweeted that the 2016 election was rigged, it makes you wonder if he also forgot the time he wished Iran’s terrorist dictator a ‘wonderful year.’ Happy #ThrowbackThursday!” wrote Tiffany.
Over the years, the Barnes tweet has accrued a number of angry responses, but he’s left it up.
“Maybe you’re unaware, but Khamenei is personally responsible for the repression in Iran and the death of girls and women. Many people had to flee his regime while others were tortured in Evin prison,” a woman wrote Barnes in 2022. “You must delete this tweet and apologize.”
He didn’t.
Khomeini, from the UN inquiry: gross human rights abuses, including torture, sexual violence and murder… pic.twitter.com/0cliEFjulX
— SarahCA (@SarahBCalif) October 20, 2022
“When they tell you what they are, believe them,” another person wrote in 2022 on the thread.
Iranians were rising up in January 2026.
Iran is undergoing a revolution and perhaps the largest explicitly anti-Islamic regime protests in history. This is the capital Tehran.
Protesters are taking over cities across the country and the regime now faces a REAL chance of falling.
I ask again, why is the media silent? pic.twitter.com/dpHZcDaRxt
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) January 9, 2026
“At least 45 protesters, including eight children, have been killed since demonstrations began on December 28, 2025,” CNN reported, noting that the country suspended Internet service throughout the country. “Hundreds more have been injured and over 2,000 people detained.”
Mandela Barnes has a long history of incendiary comments against law enforcement. He is one of several Democrats running for governor and is the former lieutenant governor. He lost a close Senate race to Republican Ron Johnson.
