A leading Ohio conservative called out his fellow Republicans Thursday for their silence on Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), the MAGA lawmaker accused by his ex-wife of abusing her and their young daughter.
Donovan O’Neil, the head of Ohio’s chapter of the Koch brothers-founded group Americans for Prosperity, accused his party members of hypocrisy as Miller, 37, continues to deny the allegations and refuses to abandon his re-election campaign.
“Too many Republicans are afraid to call @MaxMillerOH what he is,” said O’Neil, state director of AFP. “Unfit for office.”
O’Neil pointed to former Maine senatorial candidate Graham Platner — who stood down as sexual assault allegations emerged.
“We were willing just four short weeks ago to call out Graham Platner – and lambast (appropriately so) our Democrat colleagues who only did so once the blessing was granted by party bosses,” he added. “We should be just as willing to call out Max Miller and exorcise our own demons from the GOP.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), the congressman’s former father-in-law, said Thursday that he had arranged for his daughter Emily Moreno and his granddaughter to leave the state for a safe location.
O’Neil said the allegations against Miller bore a painful resemblance to the abuse his own wife witnessed growing up.
“The behavior being described and acted out — verbal, emotional, and physical abuse — mirrors what my wife experienced growing up as her mother endured an abusive relationship at the hands of an ex-boyfriend who was at the same time applauded in his local community,” O’Neil said. “I saw firsthand the manipulation, denial, and psychological games that abusers use to isolate and control their victims. My mother-in-law was only free from that abuse in her final days because Cleveland Clinic staff recognized what was happening and intervened, allowing my wife, her sisters, and their mother to spend her last moments together without her abuser present.”
The conservative activist called on fellow Republicans to step up and demand Miller, who has denied the allegations, to leave the congressional race.
“One of the reasons so many Ohioans have lost faith in politics is that too many elected officials & political figures lack the courage to say publicly what everyone knows privately,” he said. “If we believe character matters, we have to mean it — even when it’s politically inconvenient.”