Katie Wilson, Seattle’s new self-proclaimed socialist mayor, sparked a social media firestorm after she gave her take on reports that millionaires are fleeing Washington state due to taxes and various far-left policies.

While speaking at a forum at Seattle University earlier this month, the new Democratic mayor said, “I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown.”

“And the ones that leave, like, bye,” she continued, waving her hand and laughing. Though the line drew laughs and applause from those in the auditorium, it did not go over as well online, as conservatives quickly blasted the new Seattle mayor.

“Seattle’s Socialist Mayor responds to exodus of wealth from Washington State by saying “BYE” … then laughing. We’re doomed,” wrote Brandi Kruse.

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Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson looks on after the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash., on March 30, 2026. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Kruse’s post has been seen over 4 million times on social media as of Friday morning.

Popular conservative account “End Wokeness” also posted on X, writing, “Mayor Wilson seems to welcome the idea of a wealth exodus from Seattle. This is the FA part. FO coming soon.”

“Enjoy, Seattle,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.

SOCIALIST MAYOR-ELECT REVEALS WHY SHE EMBRACED HER PARENTS GIVING HER MONEY AS A 43-YEAR-OLD

The Seattle Space Needle and downtown skyline with Mount Rainier in the background are seen leading up to the 2019 Rock’n’Roll Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon. (Donald Miralle/Getty Images for Rock’n’Roll Marathon)

“What do socialists think happens when the most productive, highest revenue driving members of their tax base leave their jurisdictions?” Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts posted on X.

“Socialists are driven by hate for the rich, not concern for the poor,” Manhattan Institute scholar Daniel Di Martino posted on X.

“This is the reaction of a spoiled child whose parents paid her bills up until the point that she became mayor… She has no grasp of reality or economics,” comedian Tim Young posted on X. “Seattle is extra cooked.”

Discovery Institute Senior Journalism Fellow Jonathan Chose posted on X, “Seattle, you voted for this.”

“This clip will live in infamy,” the Washington State Republican Party posted on X. “@MayorofSeattle Katie Wilson is not only unfit to be mayor, she lacks grace and gratitude. Perhaps, she’s the one who should leave #Seattle.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson’s office for comment.

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Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson will become the city’s next mayor after defeating incumbent Bruce Harrell. (Katie Wilson for Seattle)

Wilson shocked many political observers when she was elected Seattle’s mayor last year, and many chalked up her victory to her ability to tap into a similar voting bloc that socialist Zohran Mamdani used on his way to becoming New York City’s next mayor.

Earlier this month, Fox News Digital reported on city advocates who say they are struggling to find solutions as homelessness and open-air drug use spread across Seattle’s streets, amid growing concerns about the direction of Wilson’s new administration.

“You can just see the foil is like blowing down the sidewalks like autumn leaves,” Andrea Suarez, founder and executive director of We Heart Seattle, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“Very common to see property damage of our parks and shared spaces. You can see Narcan is used to reverse an overdose, so you’ll see cartridges. But at least we’re remodeling the bathroom to be gender-neutral. I’m not [kidding] you, that’s where our priorities are.” 

Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum and Rachel Del Guidice contributed to this report.

Monica Lewinsky is admitting what led her to make choices that helped ignite one of Washington’s biggest scandals.

More than 25 years after her relationship with then-President Bill Clinton detonated into a global firestorm, Lewinsky admitted her desire to feel “special” led her down a path of “bad decisions.”

“I think in some ways that’s part of what got me in a lot of trouble in my early 20s of looking for and wanting to be special and feeling that feeling of specialness, of validation,” she said on her podcast, “Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky.” “And when it came, I fell into that, making bad decisions a lot of times, not just in D.C., but a lot of different ways.”

MONICA LEWINSKY BREAKS DOWN IN EMOTIONAL CONFESSION ABOUT CLINTON SCANDAL

On her podcast, Monica Lewinsky revisits her “bad decisions,” admitting her need to feel “special” played a role. (Gilbert Flores/Unknown)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Lewinsky for comment.

MONICA LEWINSKY SAYS BILL CLINTON ‘ESCAPED A LOT MORE THAN I DID’ AFTER WHITE HOUSE SCANDAL

A photograph showing former White House intern Monica Lewinsky meeting President Bill Clinton at a White House function was submitted as evidence in documents by the Starr investigation and released by the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 21, 1998. (House Judiciary Committee/Getty Images)

Her comments came during an episode of the podcast “Laura Day on Reclaiming Intuition & Turning Trauma into a Superpower,” part of a broader conversation centered on the idea of crisis as a catalyst for growth.

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At just 22, Lewinsky was a White House intern when her affair with Clinton came to light in the late 1990s — a revelation that triggered impeachment proceedings against the president in December 1998 and launched Lewinsky into the spotlight overnight.

Then-President Bill Clinton answered 81 questions from the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment inquiry the day after Thanksgiving in 1998. (Diana Walker/Contour by Getty Images)

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What followed, she said, wasn’t just political fallout — it was personal destruction.

Lewinsky recently described the frenzy as a kind of “public burning,” as late-night jokes, media saturation and relentless scrutiny reduced her identity to a punchline on a global stage.

Monica Lewinsky says wanting to feel “special” led her to make “bad decisions,” revisiting the scandal with Bill Clinton more than 25 years later. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

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Despite the lasting stigma attached to her name, Lewinsky said she made a conscious decision not to distance herself from it, even as it became synonymous with one of the most explosive controversies in modern political history.

In recent years, Lewinsky has reemerged in the public eye, becoming an anti-bullying advocate and public speaker. She frequently addresses the long-term consequences of public shaming, particularly in the digital age.

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Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner unveiled a plan during an interview on Thursday to “shut this White House down” so that the Trump administration is not able to function.

“Something we’re going to have to do if we’re in the majority [is] we need to use the power we get to shut this White House down,” Platner told MS NOW host Jen Psaki during “The Briefing.” “We do that, I think one of the best ways is through committee hearings and investigations. I want the Trump Administration not to function, because everyone in the White House is being hauled under subpoena in front of a Senate committee, day after day after day, not just because one, we have so many crimes to investigate at this point, We could probably be doing this for the next 30 years.” 

Platner said the Democrats need to adopt a “theory of power,” and establish goals.

“I think we need to understand that the Democratic Party needs to form a theory of power. I don’t think it’s had one for a long time,” he said. “You have to define the end state. What is the goal? What do you want to use your power in the service of? And then, how are you going to craft the policies to get there, and more importantly, build the political will and the political power to make those policies a reality?”

DEMOCRATIC MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER CONFRONTED BY MS NOW HOST ABOUT TATTOO CONTROVERSY

Graham Platner, a Democrat from Maine and U.S. Senate candidate, speaks in South Portland, Maine, on March 6, 2026. (Sofia Aldinio/Bloomberg)

Platner said he wanted to wield the power, should the Democrats take back the House and Senate, to keep members of the administration “busy” by bringing them in for investigations.

“It’s a lever of power, using subpoena power, bringing people in for investigations, that keeps them busy and that doesn’t allow them to go start another stupid war, that doesn’t allow them to continue to give billionaires more and more and more of our economy,” he said. “And so, I think it’s very important that if we are in the majority, we’re going to wield the power that we have to rein this thing in.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Republican National Committee for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Platner also argued that not a single Democratic senator should vote for a Trump administration nominee. 

“I think we need to use all of the power we have around funding and the power of the purse to stop paying for these kinds of stupid wars, stop paying for agencies like ICE, stop paying for the things that the Trump Administration is doing, that are materially hurting our democracy and hurting working people,” he said. “But we need to get people into office who have a theory of power, and who understand that the purpose of power isn’t just to have it, it’s to use it. It’s to wield it.” 

MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE CITES COMBAT TRAUMA WHEN CONFRONTED ON ‘TERRIBLE’ POSTS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT

Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine and two-term Gov. Janet Mills are competing in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. (Sophie Park/Getty Images; Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Platner has run a controversial campaign, including being the subject of multiple controversies, such as accusations that a tattoo he has resembles a “Totenkopf,” a Nazi SS symbol.

He was running in Maine’s Democratic Primary against Gov. Janet Mills, who announced Thursday that she is dropping out.

Mills had the full backing of the Democratic machine when she entered the Senate race last year, receiving endorsements from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and prominent Democratic groups.

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However, Platner was backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.