News
The Christian Ziegler/Moms for Liberty Scandal Could Hurt Ron DeSantis
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attempted to distance himself from Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler and his wife Bridget, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty—but his close involvement with them could spell trouble for him.
On Thursday, Christian Ziegler, elected this year as chair of the Florida Republican Party, was accused of sexual assault. The accuser is a woman who says she’s had a regular three-way sexual relationship with both Zieglers.
DeSantis told ABC News Thursday night that Ziegler should resign as chair.
“He’s innocent until proven guilty, but we just can’t have a party chair that is under that type of scrutiny,” DeSantis said.
Before Thursday, DeSantis was close with the Zieglers. In February, during DeSantis’ fight with Disney, he appointed Bridget Ziegler to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, a new board overseeing Disney’s theme parks in Orlando, according to Variety. DeSantis has not called on Bridget Ziegler to step down from either the district or her position on the Sarasota County School Board.
Last year, Christian Ziegler opened a rally for DeSantis, and has backed DeSantis’ using of the culture war to make a name for himself.
“All you have to do is Google Christian Ziegler Ron DeSantis, and you’ll see no one has been in the press more than I have promoting the governor and what he’s done because I think he’s done an outstanding job, especially on the cultural issues, which for me, are a big passion of mine,” Ziegler said in a March interview with CBS Miami.
DeSantis’ approval ratings as governor have been falling. In a poll taken in November, before the allegations against Christian Ziegler were made public, DeSantis’ overall approval had fallen four points since July, to a 49% approval rating. But among independent voters, his disapproval rating rocketed to 60%, a 14-point boost during the same time frame. Disapproval also grew by 10 percent, to 80%, among Black voters.
The allegations against Christian Ziegler are serious. Ziegler is accused of sexually assaulting the woman he and his wife and a standing sexual relationship with on October 2. He’s also accused of secretly recording video of their previous sexual encounters.
Though DeSantis has called on him to resign, other GOP leaders have supported Ziegler.
“If the allegations are true I’m pretty sure change will come at the [Republican Party of Florida] but I don’t believe it for a minute,” Lee County GOP Chair Michael Thompson told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “Christian’s the chairman. Christian’s still the chairman of the organization until something else happens. We don’t anticipate Christian leaving as the chair.”
“Innocent until proven guilty,” Thompson added. “That’s what our justice system needs to get back to and that’s for everybody across the board, not just for Trump, not just for Ziegler… let’s not try to convict people in headlines. Let’s see the evidence.”
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
 |
During a wide-ranging Oval Office question-and-answer session on Friday, President Donald Trump was asked about former President Joe Biden, who is now battling an aggressive form of cancer. Trump told reporters he does not feel sorry for his predecessor.
“He’s been a sort of a moderate person over his lifetime,” President Trump said, “not a smart person, but a somewhat vicious person, I will say.”
“If you feel sorry for him, don’t feel so sorry ’cause he’s vicious, what he did with his political, all of the people that he hurt, he hurt a lot of people by and so I really don’t feel sorry for him.”
READ MORE: ‘Afraid, Corrupt, or Don’t Care?’: Ernst Slammed for Trump Support at Fiery Town Hall
Earlier this month aboard Air Force One, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity, “Biden is a vicious person. Biden’s a stupid person. He’s a low IQ person, but he’s vicious and that’s a bad combination,” according to a transcript from Roll Call.
President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the 2020 election by over seven million votes. Biden won 51.3% of the vote, Trump received only 46.8%. Trump has baselessly maintained the election was “rigged.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump on Joe Biden, who recently announced a cancer diagnosis: “If you feel sorry for him, don’t feel so sorry, because he’s vicious … I really don’t feel sorry for him.” pic.twitter.com/qOT4hC67Qc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 30, 2025
READ MORE: ‘We Are All Going to Die’: GOP Senator Shrugs Off Possible Deaths From Medicaid Cuts
Image via Reuters
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, already under fire for shrugging off possible deaths from Medicaid cuts by telling constituents at a fiery and contentious town hall that “we are all going to die,” was strongly admonished over her support of President Donald Trump by another attendee, a former high school history and political science teacher.
The man, identified by the Des Moines Register as Harrison Cass Jr., a former Navy officer and retired superintendent, chastised Ernst and her fellow senators during the town hall, saying of the Trump administration, “this has been like a Nazi Blitzkrieg, and you folks have sat and done nothing.”
“Are you afraid of Trump?” he asked the Senator. “Are you corrupt like Trump? Or are you just at the point you don’t care anymore?”
READ MORE: ‘No!’: GOP Rep. Repeatedly Booed and Shouted Down at Raucous Iowa Town Hall
Cass began his remarks by pointing to the “destruction of the checks and balances that the president has already put in place.”
“He’s fired Inspector Generals. He’s fired the leaders—any leader of the federal government that disagrees with him on any political notion. He has fired, and he’s even pursuing lawsuits against those who lawfully acted and challenged him in the past, when he was trying to overthrow the government.”
“Now, he has taken over the government, and he’s been very clear about it,” Cass continued. “He’s made it into a dictatorship.”
He also lamented that “the worst thing is the Senate, and the House of Representatives have been rendered useless! And you folks have let it happen. You’ve sat back and done nothing.”
Cass also blasted Ernst for her apparent about-face on Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense whose confirmation had been in question.
READ MORE: Major Shift in GOP Views on Same-Sex Marriage: Report
“Now, I know, I know that you were going to go against Pete Hegseth, who was an incompetent fool, running the Department of Defense. Then you got scared. So my question is this: Are you afraid of Trump? Are you corrupt like Trump, or are you just at the point you don’t care anymore? And that’s why you don’t do anything?”
Cass’s remarks received loud cheers and applause.
Senator Ernst thanked Cass for his service, then responded, “Obviously, I don’t agree, because I don’t think our country is being destroyed.”
Her comment was met with loud boos.
She then went on to explain to the former history teacher why she believes the federal government was established.
Watch the video below or at this link.
READ MORE: ‘Coup’: Trump Expected to Seek SCOTUS Block as Officials Attack Judicial Branch
President Donald Trump is facing sharp criticism over his sweeping, multi-front attack on the U.S. Court of International Trade, an influential conservative legal activist who shaped his first-term judicial picks, and the Federalist Society — with one prominent law professor calling it a clash between “MAGA men” and conservatives.
“MAGA men and conservatives aren’t the same. The food fight on the right is now in the open,” wrote Professor Richard Painter, the former Bush 43 chief White House ethics lawyer who is now a political independent.
President Trump had attacked the three-judge panel on the International Trade Court, which blocked almost all of his “Liberation Day” tariffs, declaring that presidents cannot arbitrarily declare emergencies. That ruling, currently on hold, was decided by judges appointed by Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Trump himself.
READ MORE: ‘We Are All Going to Die’: GOP Senator Shrugs Off Possible Deaths From Medicaid Cuts
“Where do these initial three Judges come from?” Trump asked. “How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America? Is it purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP?’ What other reason could it be?”
“I was new to Washington,” he continued in his rant, posted Thursday evening, “and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges. I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.”
Professor Painter observed that if President Trump “is angry that he can’t impose tariffs (i.e. taxes) without consent of the legislature, instead of blaming Leonard Leo, he should blame the drafters of the Constitution (1789), or for that matter the drafters of Magna Carta (1215), which says essentially the same thing.”
Painter also explained that this “dispute is over whether a ‘conservative’ judge should allow the President to impose tariffs, a form of taxation, without consent from Congress. Conservatives, and others who understand the Constitution, know that to impose taxes the President needs consent from Congress.”
READ MORE: ‘No!’: GOP Rep. Repeatedly Booed and Shouted Down at Raucous Iowa Town Hall
Image via Reuters
‘Don’t Feel Sorry for Him’: Trump Rips ‘Vicious’ Biden
‘Afraid, Corrupt, or Don’t Care?’: Ernst Slammed for Trump Support at Fiery Town Hall
‘Food Fight’: Trump’s Anger Defies Magna Carta and Constitution, Law Professor Says
‘We Are All Going to Die’: GOP Senator Shrugs Off Possible Deaths From Medicaid Cuts
Major Shift in GOP Views on Same-Sex Marriage: Report
News3 days ago‘Meltdown’: Trump Fumes When Confronted With ‘Always Chickens Out’ Claim
News3 days ago‘No!’: GOP Rep. Repeatedly Booed and Shouted Down at Raucous Iowa Town Hall
News4 days agoWhy Does Congress ‘Even Exist?’: GOP Representative Blasted at ‘Hostile’ Town Hall
News4 days agoUniversity Research OK Only if ‘In Sync’ With Trump Goals: Top Administration Officials
News2 days agoMajor Shift in GOP Views on Same-Sex Marriage: Report
News3 days ago‘Coup’: Trump Expected to Seek SCOTUS Block as Officials Attack Judicial Branch
News3 days ago‘Absolutely Terrified’: Trump HHS Slammed for Axing Human Bird Flu Vaccine Contract
News1 day ago‘Don’t Feel Sorry for Him’: Trump Rips ‘Vicious’ Biden