Rep. Max Miller, an Ohio Republican running for re-election this year, released a bizarre video on X yesterday attempting to defend himself against allegations of brutal domestic abuse against his ex-wife and 2-year-old daughter. Miller's ex Emily, who happens to be U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno’s (R) daughter, claims he threw boiling water at her, held a gun to her head, shoved her against a wall, slapped her, and broke their toddler’s collarbone. Emily Moreno is the second woman to accuse Miller of physical abuse after former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
After nearly a week of silence from Republicans, including from the accuser’s own dad, Miller announced yesterday that he’s staying in his House race. He claimed his ex-wife has “struggled with significant mental health challenges,” called the boiling water incident during a custody dispute “horseplay in the kitchen,” and added, “If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?”
Calling his ex mentally unwell and describing the textbook appeasement and peacekeeping behavior of a domestic abuse victim only made Miller look worse, of course. But the congressman went even further, releasing what he considers to be exonerating audio of himself: a conversation between him and his ex-wife after the incident, recorded for his lawyer, in which he admits to spraying her with hot water. In the clip, his ex-wife is audibly upset about the fact that he threw scalding water on her, and he tells her it’s impossible for water to come out of the faucet at a boiling temperature. (Tap water gets as hot as 140 degrees Fahrenheit in standard homes; 120 is considered scalding.) “I told you not to come over and screw around with me,” he adds.
Textbook abuse and manipulation. It’s plain as day that the man is terrifying.
Republicans, you’ll recall, shrieked for weeks about the accusations of rape and abuse against candidate Graham Platner (whom Democrats rightfully pushed out of the Maine Senate race). RNC Chair Joe Gruters said that “Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R) did multiple Fox News hits about the Platner allegations and pretended to care about women on X. “Women who dated Graham Platner say he was demeaning, volatile, physically threatening, ‘cavalierly contemptuous’ of women,’” Cruz wrote. “This is not one bad Reddit post. It is a pattern. And Democrats own every bit of it.”
Meanwhile, as their own Max Miller is accused of beating two women and breaking a baby’s bones, a hush has fallen over the party. Virtually all elected Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined Republicans in condemning and ousting Platner, despite the vital importance of Platner’s race for their control of the Senate. But facing an uphill battle in the midterms, the GOP would rather greenlight severe domestic abuse than potentially lose even one House seat this year. (Miller is in a tough district; he won his last race by only 51%).
Even Sen. Bernie Moreno (R) dragged his feet for days on calling for his daughter’s abuser to drop out of the race. He finally became the first to say something yesterday, only after Miller publicly smeared her as crazy. “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them. He should not serve in the House of Representatives,” Moreno posted yesterday morning.
“I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake,” he added.
As of today, no other prominent Republicans have condemned Miller or called for him to step aside. That’s because there’s a classic double standard between the parties: Democrats are expected to hold their own monsters accountable, and Republicans only ever hold bad men accountable when they’re Democrats. The media is complicit, too: Whereas the Platner allegations were a front page story for weeks, most Americans probably still haven’t even heard of Max Miller—in part because it’s simply less surprising for the GOP to protect abusive men. They elected an accused rapist president, twice, and his entire cabinet is revenge for the Me Too movement.
Of course, the Democrats should not stop pushing out their own bad men, even though it’s incredibly frustrating to watch the parties play by two different sets of rules. The game is rigged and the hypocrisy of the “Christian right” unbearable. But it’s important not to become groomed or desensitized to the fact that rapists and wife beaters are allowed to thrive in Congress if they belong to the right party. Be loud about Max Miller. Ruin his life. It’s long past time for a reckoning.
I'm glad you mentioned the media's role in the double standard. It's so balant. I don't go a day without grinding my teeth at how awful it is now