Eric Swalwell's College Radicalism Exposed in Exclusive Writings
US Representative Eric Swalwell, who is desperately seeking to be taken seriously in the race to succeed California Governor Gavin Newsom, has a hidden past that starkly contrasts with his current political image. Long before entering politics, Swalwell was a wannabe campus radical who dabbled in erotic poetry, arranged wacky pranks, and expressed sympathy for notorious cop killers.
Decades-Old Student Writings Reveal Eye-Opening Past
The Bay Area congressman's surprising history is laid bare in decades-old student writings shared exclusively with the Daily Mail. This trove includes an unsettling 2001 poem titled Hungover From Burgundy, which graphically depicts two lovers kissing and biting until their veins "imploded and exploded" during a kinky hotel hookup. Swalwell was just 19 years old when he penned this risqué piece for an ENGL 412 creative writing class at Campbell University.
In a March 2000 op-ed for The Campbell Times, the student newspaper for Campbell University in North Carolina, Swalwell sneered at both major political parties. "I'm not a Republican, nor am I a Democrat, is there really a difference besides an elephant and a donkey?" he wrote. He admitted that he didn't vote in presidential elections and declared: "I belong to my own party; it's called Lost Cause."
Sympathy for Cop Killers and Radical Stances
Perhaps most troubling for a politician who has frequently boasted about being the proud son of a police officer during his 13-year congressional career is Swalwell's December 1999 op-ed entitled US Political Prisoners: A Cry for Justice. Writing under the moniker "The Radically Poetic," Swalwell mounted an impassioned defense of former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is serving life for shooting dead Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981.
Swalwell also demanded the immediate release of Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of murdering two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier served two consecutive life terms until President Joe Biden commuted his punishment to indefinite house arrest in January 2025. In the article, Swalwell launched into commentary about America's "systemically corrupt justice system" and recommended readers visit the website of anti-capitalist rock band Rage Against The Machine for further reading.
Wacky Pranks and Campus Deceptions
Another curious column recounts Swalwell's summer 2000 vacation to Cancun, where he and friends engaged in an elaborate deception. "Before departing to this tropical utopia, my friends and I decided that as an innocuous prank we would try to convince everyone in Cancun that we were with MTV," Swalwell wrote. The scheme involved flying into Mexico with forged credentials, three video cameras, and a disconnected microphone.
Swalwell gloated that they were "admitted free into every club as well as granted unlimited food and drinks" and even served as honorary guest judges in Cancun's largest swimsuit contest. Defending it as a "classic example of a prank getting carried away," the young scribe reflected: "No one was hurt and our dishonesty stayed on the other side of the border."
Political Context and Current Campaign
The brash articles were uncovered by conservative filmmaker Joel Gilbert, who is on a mission to derail Swalwell's gubernatorial bid. Gilbert previously petitioned a Sacramento court to disqualify the seven-term lawmaker from November's vote, citing a clause in the California Constitution that requires candidates to have lived in the state for the previous five years. Swalwell has dismissed the suit as "nonsense," insisting he keeps his actual living arrangements secret because of death threats from MAGA fanatics.
Swalwell's political career has been marked by both progressive acclaim for his opposition to President Donald Trump and Republican ridicule for his past entanglement with alleged Chinese honeytrap spy Christine Fang. Fang worked on Swalwell's 2014 re-election campaign before vanishing a year later, and when their relationship became public in 2020, it cost Swalwell his seat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Stark Contrast with Current Political Persona
Fast forward to 2026, and Swalwell frequently references his father's career as a police chief in Iowa as proof of his support for law enforcement. "As the son of a cop, I know what our first responders face every day," he wrote on social media recently. "As governor, I'll fund wildfire prevention, disaster response and protect the health and safety of those who risk their lives to keep us safe."
Swalwell announced his gubernatorial run in November, joining a crowded field that includes Democrat Congresswoman Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and conservative commentator Steve Hilton. His spokesman laughed off the cringeworthy poetic efforts from college years, saying: "If you think Eric's poetry at 18 was bad, you should see his diary entries from when he was 12."
However, Gilbert remains critical, telling the Daily Mail: "It's disturbing how he eroticizes violence. You have to wonder what Swalwell's woke allies in the #MeToo movement would make of his flippant alignment of drunkenness, abuse and casual sex. This was a guy who glorified cop killers in college, bragged about rough sex and thought it was funny to lie to people. The warning signs are all there: Eric Swalwell would be an absolute disaster as California Governor."
