FILE PHOTO: U.S. Representative Max Miller (R-OH) joins House Republican Study Committee members as they hold a press conference to discuss their resolution against hateful political rhetoric on the one-year anniversary of the Butler, PA, shooting of then-candidate Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
A toddler's blue stuffed bunny has become the emblem of the scandal now engulfing Rep. Max Miller — and the anchor of a scathing new essay in The Atlantic.
Writer Elizabeth Bruenig used the bunny, which Miller's 2-year-old daughter has slept with since birth, to frame a broader argument about the Ohio Republican.
"Children are made for love, but not everyone who has a child is fit to love them," Bruenig wrote.
According to court documents and records published by Mother Jones, Miller repeatedly withheld the toy from his daughter, at times for days, despite pleas from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and her father, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH). In her messages, Moreno alleged the withholding was meant to hurt her by proxy, through their child.
"When someone else’s pain pleases you, it is called sadism.There is no sound way to manage sadists in society, as normal behavioral incentives do not seem to apply to them. This makes them dangerous. They should probably not spend much time around other people. And they certainly shouldn’t be around children, who can’t defend themselves and can’t understand how someone might thrive on suffering, because children are made for love," Bruenig wrote.
The bunny feud sits inside far graver allegations. In their custody battle, Moreno has accused Miller of throwing scalding water on her, holding a gun to her head and shoving her into a wall, and has said she cannot rule out that he broke their daughter's collarbone. Moreno and her daughter have since left Ohio for a secure location, the senator said.
Miller denies all of it.
"I have never abused our daughter," he said. No criminal charges have been filed against him. He requested the House Ethics Committee investigate him and has refused to end his reelection campaign, even as Bernie Moreno and a growing number of Republicans demand he resign.
Miller has also dismissed the bunny claims as lies, insisting his daughter got the toy back within 14 hours.