Stancil grew up in Belmont, North Carolina,[4] and received a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University, a master's degree in modern history from Queen's University Belfast, and a juris doctor and master's degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota.[5] As of 2024, he was a research fellow at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Metropolitan Opportunity, with a focus on civil rights and education and housing policy, working for Myron Orfield, who later endorsed his House campaign.[5]
Political positions
For his House of Representatives campaign, Stancil supported more government accountability, revitalizing Minneapolis economically, better public education, enhancing public safety, restoring the tax base, and protecting civil rights.[6][7] Stancil's politics are considered center-left or liberal and he has received substantial criticism of his positions from both the left and right.[2][8]
Social media
Stancil has been described as one of the "most well-known online pugilists in American politics" by the editor in chief of the Minnesota Reformer.[9] In 2023 and 2024, Stancil argued that the economy under the presidency of Joe Biden was successful despite high inflation, claimed that those who argued otherwise were dishonest, and that the negative polarization against Biden was largely as a result of social media.[10] Stancil believes that voters' perception of the world colored through social media is significantly more important than their material wellbeing, and that psychology was the primary reason Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election and Trumpism is successful.[11]
Harassment
During his run for Minnesota House of Representatives, far-right accounts claiming to be Stancil supporters harassed his opponents, resulting in his opponents increasing security at public events and limiting their use of Twitter.[12] Such users also prompted Grok to tweet graphic fantasies of raping Stancil.[13] In October 2025, an account began posting The Will Stancil Show on X, an AI-assisted satirical cartoon of Stancil.[14][15] The right-wing author Charles Cornish-Dale, writing for The Spectator, described the series as "better than anything Comedy Central or Adult Swim has produced in the last 20 years."[16] In contrast, The Atlantic described it as the "racist, AI-generated future of entertainment."[15]
↑Kirshner, Alex (November 6, 2025). "The Most Harassed Guy on X Knows What's Wrong With Social Media. Democrats Should Listen to Him". Slate. The Slate Group. Archived from the original on November 9, 2025. Retrieved December 1, 2025. In October, a woman with 43,000 followers debuted an A.I.-slop cartoon called "The Will Stancil Show," depicting a fictional Stancil as a parody of wokeness who hands out free housing vouchers to groups of Black kids.
↑"Will Stancil (@whstancil.bsky.social)". Bluesky Social. January 30, 2026. Archived from the original on January 30, 2026. Retrieved January 30, 2026. Okay so unfortunately I've been removed from rapid response networks, at least in my immediate area. I think even alerting you of this would be deemed a violation of principles but given how much I've talked about it I do feel the need to say what's up.
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