Marisa Simonetti, a 2026 United States Senate candidate from Minnesota, recently got into a fight with a Girl Scout and her mother about selling Girl Scout cookies on the street and whether they had a permit to do so.
It’s just the latest controversy surrounding Simonetti, and based on online reaction, picking on a little girl and her mom is a strange way to get votes.
Do you have a permit?
Simonetti’s TikTok page shows a brief clip of her approaching a business establishment in Edina, Minnesota. As the camera approaches the girl and her mother behind a table set up in front of the address, Simonetti’s text overlay reads, “DEI Weekend at Lush 50th and France. Minorities only: come sell your lemonade, cookies, etc. No permits needed.”
While it no longer appears on her page, a longer version of the video is posted on Simonetti’s Facebook page in which Simonetti confronts the woman and her daughter about having a permit to sell the cookies. The clearly confused mother covers her daughter’s face, telling Simonetti she’s a minor.
Simonetti still presses the matter as the woman walks inside the business, as if to seek help. Girl Scouts do sometimes need a permit to sell cookies on the sidewalk, depending on the town, but regardless, it’s unclear why Simonetti seemed intent on picking a fight with a mom and her child.
Whatever Simonetti intended, it backfired in comments, such as on Reddit, “Filming someone else’s child and then having the nerve to post it to social media? Disgusting,” and also, “Some people need to touch grass,” followed by, “After falling from getting punched? Yes.”
On Simonetti’s official Facebook, someone added, “Someone get me mom’s info. I want to buy 10 boxes just to spite this bats—t crazy videographer.”
The Simonetti spider incident
Meanwhile, this isn’t Simonetti’s first taste of viral infamy. In 2024, while running as a Republican candidate for Hennepin County Commissioner, Simonetti was arrested and later convicted in connection with a bizarre domestic dispute in Edina, during which she released a live tarantula down a staircase toward her tenant amid an altercation. Some news reports say it was “thrown.”
A jury in March 2026 — the same month she shared the Girl Scouts post — found her guilty of gross misdemeanor harassment, misdemeanor domestic assault, and disorderly conduct related to that June 2024 incident.
After that episode, local Republican leaders withdrew their endorsement, and she did not maintain official GOP backing for her county board campaign.
Even still, Simonetti declared a bid for the U.S. Senate in the 2026 election as an independent seeking Minnesota’s open Senate seat. Her campaign messaging emphasizes “hope, peace, and authentic connection,” with broad goals around supporting families, community resilience, education, and economic opportunity, according to her website and press statements — just not for Girl Scouts, apparently.
Published: Apr 6, 2026 06:45 am