Liz Warren sends panicked email over Kid Rock Senate bid: 'We all thought Donald Trump was joking

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Friday fired off a panicked email to supporters warning Democrats to not underestimate the Senate bid of world-famous singer "Kid Rock."

"I know a lot of people are thinking: this is some sort of joke, right?" Warren wrote in a fundraising email to supporters Friday with the subject line reading "Senator Kid Rock (R-MI)."

"Well, maybe this is all a joke — but we all thought Donald Trump was joking when he rode down the escalator at Trump Tower and announced his campaign, too," Warren added. "And sure, maybe this is just a marketing gimmick for a new album or tour — but we all thought Donald Trump was just promoting his reality show, too."

The email then linked to a fundraising page where donors could donate to both Michigan Democratic incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow — the women who Kid Rock will presumably be challenging — and Warren's own 2018 re-election campaign, according to the Boston Herald.

The email blast comes after Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, posted to his Twitter account Wednesday a website link to the website kidrockforsenate.com. At first, the website only posted links to buy campaign merchandise leading many to claim the campaign tease was a hoax to sell merchandise.

However, Ritchie quickly squashed those claims.

"It's not a hoax," Ritchie wrote in a campaign announcement on his website where he outlines his plan to continue to create music during his Senate campaign and notes that he has 15 days from the day of his official campaign announcement — July 13 — to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.

In his announcement, Ritchie promises to be "a voice for tax paying, hardworking AMERICANS and letting politicians like [Stabenow] know that We the People are sick and tired of their bulls**t!"

Ritchie is a native of Romeo, Michigan, a town just north of Detroit. He's well liked in his home state and is known for putting his money where his mouth is, that is investing in the state that he calls home. Those factors, along with his celebrity status, likely make him a formidable Republican challenger in next year's midterm elections.

Saul Anuzis, the former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, stressed in comments to the Herald that Ritchie should not be discounted.

"He’s well-liked," Anuzis told the Herald. "He’s a big proponent of Detroit and somebody who’s put his money where his mouth is investing back home."

"I do believe if he were to put together an anti-obstructionist, drain-the-swamp kind of message and could articulate four or five positions that drive people, he could potentially be a credible candidate,” Anuzis added.

“It’d be a mistake to write him off," the GOP leader emphasized.