Florida Republican Party Implodes as Chairman Removed for Rape Allegation

The Florida Republican Party overwhelmingly voted on Monday to remove its chairman, Christian Ziegler, as police investigate him for a rape allegation.

More than 200 members attended the meeting, and almost all voted to oust Ziegler, according to multiple reporters on scene. The party had already suspended Ziegler last month when the rape accusation first came to light and demanded he resign, but he had refused.

Police in Sarasota, Florida, began investigating Ziegler late last year after a woman said he raped her at her apartment in October. Ziegler and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of the far-right group Moms for Liberty, have admitted they had previously had a consensual sexual relationship with the accuser.

The woman says she and the Zieglers had planned to have a threesome on October 2, according to police reports. Bridget Ziegler was unable to attend. Christian Ziegler allegedly arrived at the woman’s apartment alone and assaulted her.

Neither of the Zieglers has been charged with a crime, but Christian Ziegler is currently under investigation. He is also being investigated for “video voyeurism.” According to police documents, Ziegler allegedly filmed the sexual encounter and then sent it to the woman on Instagram using “vanish mode.” Messages sent in “vanish mode” disappear after a certain period of time.

The Florida Republican Party said one of its main reasons for asking him to leave was the concern the investigation would hinder his ability to successfully lead the party during a competitive election cycle. Ziegler has denied the allegations.

Bridget Ziegler was asked to leave the Sarasota School Board, but she has refused. The Zieglers have repeatedly pushed anti-LGBTQ laws and regulations, particularly in schools. Their consensual relationship with another woman has led many—including other conservative parental rights activists—to accuse Bridget Ziegler of hypocrisy.

A Florida Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill that would make it defamation to accuse someone of racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia, a measure that would deal a devastating blow to freedom of speech in the Sunshine State.

The bill, which was introduced Friday, would make it much easier for someone to sue another person for defamation. The measure states that “an allegation that the plaintiff has discriminated against another person or group because of their race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity constitutes defamation per se.”

Proving “actual malice” is one of the main requirements of a successful defamation case. And this bill would make that easier, setting up conditions for a fact-finder to automatically infer that actual malice took place after an accusation of discrimination.

In cases of alleged homophobia or transphobia, defendants charged with defamation are not allowed to use the plaintiff’s religious or scientific beliefs as part of their defense. If they are found liable for defamation, the defendant could be fined at least $35,000.

The bill applies to statements made in print, on television, or on social media. It also states that someone who is caught in a viral video engaging in allegedly discriminatory behaviors does not qualify as a “public figure,” giving those people even more grounds to sue.

Finally, the bill removes certain journalistic privileges, particularly the right to keep sources anonymous. Statements from anonymous sources would be considered “presumptively false,” making journalists reporting on discrimination vulnerable to lawsuits.

“More attempts to chill free speech in the ‘free’ State of Florida,” Democratic state Representative Anna Eskamani tweeted about the measure.

The bill was introduced by state Senator Jason Brodeur, who, despite claiming he wants to protect free speech, has taken aim at the right to free speech multiple times. In 2023, he introduced a bill that would require paid bloggers who write about elected officials to register with the state. Such a registry of political writers and independent journalists would have allowed for increased surveillance.

Brodeur’s new bill is almost an exact copy of another measure introduced early last year. That original bill passed the Civil Justice Subcommittee but ultimately failed in the Judiciary Committee.

Florida increased its attacks on LGBTQ rights over the course of 2023. With Republicans holding both chambers of the state legislature and the governor’s office, the new version might stand a chance.

If the new bill does become law, it is unlikely to survive a legal challenge due to its clear violations of free speech and anti-discrimination laws. But as with so many Republican culture-war laws, the point is not to create good legislation. The point is to scare people.

A new pro-Trump campaign ad is doubling down on the former president’s Hitler rhetoric—and attacking Nikki Haley over her stance on immigration.

Trump-allied super PAC MAGA Inc posted the video on X (formerly Twitter) Monday morning, marking the second time the group has specifically targeted Haley. The ad shows photos and video footage supposedly of the southern U.S. border, spliced with clips from a speech Haley gave in 2015.

“Drug traffickers. Rapists. Poisoning our country,” the narrator says. “But Nikki Haley refused to call illegals ‘criminals.’”

“Illegals are criminals, Nikki. That’s what illegal means,” the ad says, branding Haley as “too weak” and “too liberal” on immigration.

During a 2015 event in Colorado, Haley said it was “incredibly frustrating” to see the massive influx of undocumented immigrants, but warned it was “disrespectful” to dismiss them as criminals.

“We don’t need to talk about them as criminals, they’re not,” said Haley, who is the daughter of Indian immigrants. “They’re families that want a better life and they’re desperate to get here.”

Monday’s ad is the second time MAGA Inc has taken specific aim at Haley. At the end of 2023, the super PAC spent nearly $3.5 million on anti-Haley ads, mailers, and text messages. Haley has seen a steady rise in the polls. RealClearPolitics’s rolling average of the last three weeks of polling currently has Haley in second place, ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was once touted as Trump’s natural successor. Trump still enjoys a hefty lead, though.

But more importantly, the ad is a clear sign that Trump and his supporters are totally fine embracing fascist rhetoric. Trump has previously claimed immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” When critics rightfully pointed out that this was language straight out of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, Trump claimed he’d never read the Nazi manifesto, only to then immediately decry immigrants for “destroying the blood of our country.”

And the MAGA Inc ad similarly claims that immigrants are “poisoning our country.”

It seems that Trump is gearing up to keep that extremist train of thought going should he return to the White House, bragging in December that he would abuse his powers if reelected. He also might bring his former adviser Stephen Miller back as attorney general.

Miller, an open white nationalist, claimed in December that the United States is being overrun by immigrants and can only be saved by “massive” deportations.

Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he urged January 6 rioters to protest peacefully. But according to a new report, he didn’t even write one of the main tweets he cites in this defense.

Some of Trump’s closest allies revealed to special counsel Jack Smith, who has indicted Trump for trying to overthrow the 2020 election, that the former president refused to help stop the insurrection, ABC reported on Sunday, citing anonymous sources close to Smith’s investigation.

Trump’s longtime adviser and former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino said that even as the violence increased, Trump was “just not interested” in stopping it. Instead, Trump was content to sit and watch the riot unfold on television.

Sources told ABC that former Trump aide Nick Luna had at one point warned his boss that then–Vice President Mike Pence had to be taken to a secure location. Trump replied, “So what?”

Trump then tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.” His advisers were shocked he would add such incendiary commentary to the growing riot.

As the situation grew worse, Scavino said he printed out potential tweets Trump could post to urge the rioters not to get violent. At 2:38 p.m., after many protesters had already breached the Capitol, Trump finally let Scavino post a message on Trump’s Twitter (now called X) account telling the mob to “stay peaceful.”

Minutes later, Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was shot dead when she tried to break through a barricaded entrance. The insurrection did not stop until Trump—after nearly two hours of begging from his aides, advisers, family members, and allies in Congress—posted a video telling his supporters, “Go home. We love you. You’re very special.”

Since he was indicted in August for his role in the January 6 attack, Trump and his lawyers have continually insisted that he told the crowd to be peaceful. And Trump did, exactly twice. Once during his speech at the Ellipse, when he said, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” And a second time in his weak tweet.

But during his speech, Trump couched that one reference to peaceful protest in a stream of otherwise incendiary rhetoric. He falsely claimed that he had won the election and that Pence and Congress had the right not to certify Joe Biden’s win. And his speech ultimately whipped the crowd up into an angry mob that stormed the Capitol.

As for his tweet, it now turns out that Trump wasn’t all that pressed to urge for peace anyway.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order on Friday that will immediately ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors within the state, making Ohio the second state in the nation to ban the procedure.

DeWine’s decision comes about a week after the Republican governor vetoed a bill that would have banned all gender-affirming care for minors, from surgeries to hormone blockers. But then, after the rest of his party threatened to override his veto, DeWine did something unexpected. He went above and beyond the original bill, restricting some access to gender-affirming care for adults as well.

Under the new set of administrative rules, both minors and adults seeking any gender-affirming care will require sign-offs by multidisciplinary teams. That team could include (but is not limited to) an endocrinologist, a bioethicist, and a psychiatrist, DeWine explained during a news conference on Friday. The new rules will be enforced by the Ohio Department of Health and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

“Candidly, which I expressed a week ago, I am concerned that there could be fly-by-night providers, clinics that might be dispensing medication to adults with no counseling and no basic standards to assure quality care,” DeWine said.

Trans adults will also have to undergo a “lengthy” period of mental health counseling before seeking care.

The new steep barrier of entry—which is not required in most states across the nation—will likely tack on incredible medical expenses, only further limiting access to what is often viewed as lifesaving care for transgender individuals.

It’s not clear why DeWine suddenly had a change of heart and decided to expand restrictions on gender-affirming care to Ohioans of all ages.

Last week, DeWine spoke in support of trans rights, saying he heard the cries of parents with transgender children before making the decision to veto the previous Republican bill.

“I’ll never forget what so many of them told me. They said, ‘Governor, but for this, my child would be dead by now. My child would have committed suicide,” DeWine told local news outlet WTRF.