The right-wing bubble seals in the GOP with Max Miller
Live by the Fox hit, die by the Fox hit.
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“The left-wing media already has a narrative,” Ohio Rep. Max Miller declared Sunday morning in a livestream on X.
Miller was forcefully (if awkwardly) denying allegations he abused his daughter and his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, herself the daughter of Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno. It’s no accident that Miller chose to make his statement about these allegations on Elon Musk’s right-wing website where he would not have to confront questions from reporters.
Miller blamed the media for putting out allegations “nonstop” and suggested the left is out to get him. But a string of accusations have in fact come from his former partners, and his refusal to drop out of his competitive primary before the August 5 deadline this week ultimately damages his party.
It also harms the Moreno family. Bernie Moreno has spent recent months refusing to speak out against Miller. For instance, when recently asked by a reporter whether Miller should be removed from the ballot, Moreno managed only a hesitant, “I don’t know.”
A spokesperson for Moreno had a little more anger — for Democrats.
“While we won’t dignify this baseless attacks by Democrats and their media allies, Senator Moreno will not speak on active litigation involving his family,” she said.
But after Miller’s grotesque escalation on X, Bernie Moreno finally had enough.
On social media he said he’d been trying to “keep this matter private” but that Miller’s “increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior” forced him to speak.
“Max Miller needs serious psychological help,” Moreno added, continuing that “he is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.”
Moreno noted that Miller fails the standard of character required for public service, and concluded that “he should not serve in the House of Representatives.”
And Miller showed just how ugly his character is by replying to Moreno with cruel gaslighting. "If my daughter said the same thing to me, I personally wouldn't wait two years before holding him accountable,” he sneered on social media. “You know this isn't true and the only reason you are speaking out now is to hide from your own media circus. This is all political."
In other words, Moreno was silent in part because he feared what Moreno would do to his daughter and granddaughter, and Moreno is now using that silence as evidence that the threat did not exist. Even by the standards of the GOP, this is a chilling public example of harassment and bullying.
There are only days left before the August 5 deadline for removing a candidate from the ballot in Ohio. Its possible other Republicans will join Moreno in calling for Miller to resign.
So far, however, Miller has been successful in leveraging the right’s hatred of mainstream media to prevent his own party from organizing against him. It’s an ugly illustration of how the right-wing bubble both protects and suffocates its own.
Miller’s deplorable past
The 37-year-old Miller has risen in Republican politics thanks to his loyalty to Donald Trump.
After working on the 2016 presidential campaign, Miller became an aide first in the Treasury Department and then in the White House. He enthusiastically promoted Trump’s 2020 election lies. Trump rewarded him by supporting his primary bid in 2022 against Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who voted for Trump’s 2020 impeachment, and Gonzalez eventually dropped out. Trump called Miller a “really great guy” with “a passion for this country like you wouldn’t believe.”
But there already at that point was evidence that Miller might not be such a great guy.
Politico ran a deeply reported piece in 2021 including interviews with 60 people, multiple of whom characterized Miller as “a cocky bully with a quick-trigger temper.” Their investigation found records of underage drinking, disorderly conduct, and driving under the influence.
Former Trump 1.0 Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham dated Miller between 2019 and 2020 and claims their relationship ended when he slapped her after she accused him of cheating. Miller sued her for defamation, but dropped the suit after an undisclosed settlement agreement.
Miller married Emily Moreno, daughter of Sen. Moreno, in 2022. They divorced two years later, and since then they have been in court continually. It was in court documents that Moreno accused Miller of abusing her and her daughter. She said the abuse was sufficiently intense and visible that at one point her daughter told her, “Daddy kill you.”
Miller denies the accusations and has tried to undermine his ex-wife’s credibility. In his livestream on Sunday, for example, he said Moreno offered to cook him dinner a week after she said he abused her.
Miller insisted this meant the accusations are false, which would be convincing if you knew nothing at all about domestic abuse and if you also hated women.
Had Miller been speaking to a reporter, the reporter might have pushed back on this toxic nonsense — which is presumably why Miller decided not to speak to a reporter.
Miller has also claimed that his ex-wife is mentally ill (her lawyers deny this) and said she is stalking and threatening him. He has also allegedly physically and verbally accosted Moreno’s attorney, Andrew Zashin, and Emily Moreno has filed a restraining order to prevent Miller from contacting Zashin.
In addition to allegedly targeting Bernie Moreno’s granddaughter, his daughter, and his daughter’s lawyer, Miller also appears to have threatened Bernie Moreno with blackmail materials or revelations.
Court documents include a text from Miller to Moreno telling him, “Take this however you want, everyone is going to get to know you better than your wife does. Enjoy the ride brother, I wouldn’t have to do this if you could keep your lying daughter under control.”
There is no “both sides”
Some Republicans have compared Miller to Graham Platner, the Maine Senate candidate who was forced to withdraw his name from the ballot following allegations of domestic violence and rape. One GOP operative told Politico that Miller’s scandals were like “Platner on steroids.” But the difference in the way the parties responded is telling.
Yes, some Democratic elected officials were slow to respond to a series of red flags with Platner — including the revelation he had worn a Nazi tattoo for years, had made homophobic, racist, and misogynist social media posts, and was unfaithful to his wife. Leaders even continued to back Platner after the credible domestic misconduct accusation emerged. A rape accusation made in a Politico piece, however, was the end. Soon after it published, Platner’s allies lined up to withdraw endorsements. Within 24 hours it was clear he had no path forward.
Democrats did not cover themselves with glory in their handling of Platner. There were indications for months he was unfit and should withdraw, yet it took two women coming forward in mainstream publications for the party to forcefully reject him. Faced with multiple accusers, however, and backed to the wall, Democrats did finally decide to believe survivors and credible reporting.
With Miller, Republicans have for some time had as much evidence as Democrats had when they rejected Platner. There has been reporting on his history of bullying and anger. He has been accused of violence against two women, a child, and now another man. He has threatened his father-in-law, a Republican senator.
More, as with Platner, there has been for months a steady drip of new allegations and damaging details. Republicans have every reason to believe that more, and perhaps worse, is yet to come. The August 5 deadline is looming — if there was any time to start withdrawing endorsements, it would be now.
See no evil, hear no evil
But until Sen. Moreno spoke on social media, there have been almost no open Republican calls for Miller to resign.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, when asked on CNN about whether Miller should resign, insisted the domestic abuse allegations were “a family matter” and then boasted about campaigning for him.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also declined to call for Miller to resign and is refusing to comment until a full (possibly years long) ethics investigation takes place in the House.
Ohio Rep. Mike Turner on Sunday echoed Johnson, insisting that courts should handle the allegations and refusing to comment further.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was willing to say that he was “disturbed” by the allegations, but declined to call for Miller’s resignation, passing the buck to voters.
Trump, whose word in GOP candidate selection remains hugely influential, has not weighed in explicitly. [Editor’s note: Trump did weigh in Sunday evening by downplaying Miller’s alleged abuse as “accusations” while stopping short of calling for his resignation.]
But Trump’s example hovers over all. The president himself has been held liable by a jury for sexual assault and has been accused of sexual harassment, assault, and impropriety by dozens of women.
Republicans elevated Trump in part because its media infrastructure is committed to disbelieving women, denying their bodily autonomy, and treating all mainstream media outlets as “fake news.” When Trump accuses all reporters of “Trump derangement syndrome” he’s telling his base to ignore any and all reports about his own corruption and personal unfitness — and to also ignore reports about the corruption and personal fitness of his allies.
In that context, were Republican officials to credit reports about Miller’s unfitness, they would essentially be taking sides against Trump and against Republican identity itself. To admit the accusations against Miller are credible and to admit they require moral action in response is to admit that all those things the media has been saying about Trump and Republicans might also be true. That is unendurable.
This is obviously great for right-wing media, which has a captive audience and a low overhead, since they don’t need to do any investigative reporting and can make up whatever lies they want to fill their broadcast time as long as they stay shy of libeling anyone with the resources to sue them.
It’s also great for Max Miller, who can just go on X and smear his ex-wife without having to worry that reporters or colleagues will call him on it. And it’s great for lazy, corrupt liars like Donald Trump, who can wallow in corruption and break laws with impunity.
It’s not so great, though, for a Republican Party that does, every so often, have to face a general electorate in a blue wave year.
When you become the party of Fox News, you become a party whose candidates have no idea how to exist outside of Fox News. That’s why Max Miller may be on the verge of losing a seat the GOP was expected to win. And that’s why Republicans’ fascist propaganda may, for once, be not a life raft but an anchor when the blue wave hits.
That’s it for today
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I don’t know which comment is the worst, but this is right up there: Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan...insisted the domestic abuse allegations were “a family matter”
Why oh why aren't these people being crucified by the GOP? Family values? Law and order? No. Just assholes who condone violence against women. In their actions, in what they say, in their legislation. Women get out and vote! Use our power.