GOP To Win Back Ladies By Nominating Bunch Of Dudes Accused Of Abusing Ladies. You Bet!

It's a bold strategy, Cotton!

Another day, another allegation of violence by a Republican candidate. Oh, whoops, nope — make that two Republican candidates. Because when the GOP sends its people, they're really not sending their best.

Spoiler Alert:  Thanks, Donald! 

Former Trump flack Stephanie Grisham got the ball rolling with a Washington Post Opinion piece published yesterday. In it, she describes telling both Donald and Melon that her ex-boyfriend, Trump aide Max Miller, had been physically abusive during their relationship.

"There was no follow-up from either of them to see if I needed help or protection," she wrote. "There was no investigation ordered. No effort to get to the bottom of this."

Indeed, Melania took it as a given that Grisham would bury the whole thing, continuing to work alongside her abuser, because it was far more important to protect the Trump family than to ensure her own safety.

She asked me if I had called the police and I said no, explaining that this close to the election, it wouldn't be good to have yet another domestic abuse scandal hanging over the administration. I also had no proof. She nodded and did not push the matter further.

And just months later, Trump endorsed Miller in his bid to replace Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, one of 10 Republicans who had the nerve to vote to impeach Trump earlier this year.

Because Trump was so hot to take revenge on Gonzalez, he gave Miller his blessing back in February. But now Gonzalez has dropped out of the race for his own reelection, and Republicans are probably stuck with Miller thanks to The Big Guy's endorsement. The district as currently drawn is safely Republican, but running a guy with a whole skeleton family banging around his closet isn't a great look for the Red Team.

Miller came out swinging, as is (allegedly!) his wont. Yesterday he filed a defamation suit against Grisham, seeking to gag her from repeating the abuse allegations from the Post piece. A judge in Cleveland refused to grant the emergency order, and Grisham continued with the publicity tour to flog her new book, telling CNN's Jake Tapper there had been "abuse in every way" during her relationship with Miller.

The next hearing is set for October 13, so this story isn't going away any time soon.

Today's second horrible man is US Senate candidate Sean Parnell, who also showed up in court yesterday, asking a Pennsylvania judge to duct tape his wife's mouth shut about two protective orders she sought against him during their marriage.

"I signed up to run for office," he said during the hearing. "My kids did not."

The Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported the story, points out that Mr. Parnell was not always so concerned about his children's privacy.

An attorney for his wife, Laurie Parnell, said the candidate is trying to protect himself and his political ambitions. She noted that in 2019 he sought permission to use the children's photos on social media, filing a motion that cited a brand strategist's advice to do so "in order to harness the potential of his customer base, secure new followers," and improve sales of his books. Parnell's campaign website also prominently features photos of him with his children.

"He is once again using the children as an excuse to try to protect his true character and actions from being shown to the public," Laurie Parnell wrote in a filing, adding in court that, although she agrees to seal information about her children, she does not go along with a general lid to protect her ex-husband's privacy.

"I don't believe that any additional restrictions should be put on this custody case," she told Judge James Arner.

Parnell is running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who, like Rep. Gonzalez, voted to impeach Trump. Trump gave Parnell his endorsement a month ago, long after the news broke about the two protective orders, which were later withdrawn. And it's not news that Donald Trump and the GOP don't give a shit about violence against women. After all, these are the people who let the Violence Against Women Act expire rather than include protections for trans people and partners in same sex relationships.

But it bears pointing out that Trump has saddled his party with a fair few horrible men going into the midterms. Besides Miller and Parnell, there's Herschel Walker, whom Trump talked into running for the Senate from Georgia. Walker's ex-wife alleges pervasive abuse during their marriage, including a time when he brandished a gun and threatened, "I'm going to blow your fucking brains out." It's not a great storyline for a party that's hemorrhaging support among suburban women. And although he hasn't received Trump's endorsement, there's also US Senate candidate Eric Greitens of Missouri, who resigned the state's governorship in disgrace after allegations that he'd tied up a woman and threatened to leak her nudes if she revealed their affair.

These people are filth. Film at 11.

[ WaPo / Beast / Inquirer ]

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