Embattled Republican may survive abuse scandal — and cost GOP a safe seat: analysis

Ohio Rep. Max Miller is trying to survive a domestic abuse scandal the way a lot of Republicans now do, by retreating into the right-wing media bubble, according to a new analysis in Public Notice that argued the strategy could end up costing his party a seat it was favored to win.

Miller, a Trump-endorsed Republican, has been accused by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, of abusing her and their young daughter, allegations laid out in court filings tied to their divorce and custody fight. He has denied any wrongdoing, has sued her for defamation, and said no court or agency has substantiated the claims and that "no criminal charge has ever been filed against me." Rather than take questions from reporters, he made that case in a roughly 20-minute livestream on X, then refused to drop out ahead of Wednesday's Ohio deadline to replace a candidate on the ballot.

That, writer Noah Berlatsky argued Monday, is the whole problem.

By leaning on the base's distrust of mainstream media, Miller has kept his own party from organizing against him, said Berlatsky. It's a bubble, he said, that both shields its own and smothers them. Most Ohio Republicans stayed quiet for days, and Trump himself downplayed the allegations, telling reporters he would look at the matter but that so far it amounted to accusations.

The silence broke Sunday when Miller's former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno, called him unfit and said he should not serve in the House. With the ballot deadline hours away, Ohio's 7th District, which Trump carried by 11 points, is a seat Republicans should hold easily.

"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," Berlatsky concluded.