Pennsylvania GOP congressman’s staff accused of scrubbing boss’ Wikipedia page of Tinder scandal

A staffer for U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) has been accused of wiping the congressman’s Wikipedia page of a paragraph detailing the lawmaker’s Tinder scandal from last year, according to a Daily Mail report.

While he was running for Congress last June, Mackenzie was found to have lied about his age on a Tinder dating profile by eight years, claiming to be 29 when he was actually 37. Last week, the Daily Mail reported that a section on Mackenzie’s Wikipedia page had been deleted by a user that may be linked to the congressman’s staff.

According to the report, Wikipedia user ATown1516 made the edits and deleted the paragraphs about the scandal. Mackenzie’s communications director Arnaud Armstrong reportedly used to live in Allentown at a house that included the address 1516.

ATown1516 made numerous edits between May 2024 and last March, making edits like removing references to Mackenzie’s support of false 2020 election denial and votes against reproductive rights in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Armstrong and Mackenzie’s office did not immediately respond to an email request to comment on whether his staffer committed these actions or if they occurred at taxpayers’ expense. ATown1516 has also not responded to multiple requests from Wikipedia editors to explain their edits.

In a statement, DCCC spokesperson Eli Cousin said Mackenzie’s constituents deserve to know if this is his staff attempted to cover up his scandal.

“Ryan Mackenzie is a sleazebag who lied about his age on Tinder and lied about his support for an extreme abortion ban – and now he’s only making the story worse with his sloppy attempt to clean it up. Lehigh Valley voters deserve to know: Is it true that Mackenzie asked his congressional staff to cover up his inappropriate behavior while working on the taxpayer dime?”

After the Tinder scandal broke last year, over 100 women demanded an apology from the then-state representative via a written letter sent to his office in Harrisburg.

“Trolling on Tinder for younger women is one thing (we can’t help but notice that you fudged your age by nearly a decade), but doing so while you are actively serving on the Pennsylvania State Legislature is another. To make matters worse, you never took accountability for the lie, you just denied that you were married or engaged at the time. We can’t help but wonder what else you will lie to Pennsylvania women about over the next five months, as you attempt to capture our votes,” a portion of the letter reads.

Last year, a spokesperson from Mackenzie’s office simply said that the congressman was not married at the time. During an interview with NewsNation, Mackenzie blamed Democrats for making it a story in the first place.

Mackenzie narrowly defeated incumbent Rep. Susan Wild (D) last November by one percentage point (4,062 votes). Mackenzie’s 7^th Congressional District seat is currently rated a tossup by Cook Political Report.