GOP strategist rips MAGA pastor as 'narcissistic sleaze' after scandal sinks his campaign

A conservative commentator unloaded on a former Trump-endorsed congressional candidate, branding him "an absolute narcissistic sleaze" after a sex scandal torpedoed his bid for office.

Daily Wire contributor Carly Bird, a Republican strategist and former national spokeswoman for Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign, took to X to rip Oklahoma megachurch pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, who founded the Pastors for Trump group.

She accused him of staying in the race because he thought he could "get away with it," denying the allegations, then quitting and — by her account — giving an interview to the Daily Mail. "Gross," she added.

"Jackson Lahmeyer (he deleted his account) is an absolute narcissistic sleaze," Bird railed on X.

On Thursday, the Mail reported Lahmeyer fessed up that he had "kissed" the woman and "had an affair on my wife." He insisted that the two did "not have sex during this election."

When pressed on whether he was admitting he had sex with the woman in 2022, he simply replied, "In 2022 I cheated on my wife."

Lahmeyer's campaign for Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District imploded this week after the Daily Mail published reports detailing flirtatious text messages he allegedly exchanged with Caitlin Simmons Key, a former Miss Oklahoma USA who worked as a fundraiser on his campaign. In a statement, he said he owned "crossing a boundary line through text messaging" and had "ended all communication," while dismissing the Daily Mail's reporting as a "distorted" and "cherry-picked" story by a "British Tabloid."

Despite the scandal, Lahmeyer advanced to a Republican runoff on Tuesday, finishing second. The next day, President Donald Trump — who had praised the pastor as a "MAGA warrior" — yanked his endorsement and backed rival Mark Tedford. Lahmeyer suspended his campaign shortly after, saying he did not want to be "a distraction to my family, my church" and his district. Tedford now becomes the GOP nominee.