Trump-Backed Senate Candidate Sean Parnell Says It’s Not His Child in Photo Showing Abuse

U.S. Senate candidate Sean Parnell (R-PA) took the stand Monday in his highly publicized custody case and testified under oath that he did not abuse his estranged wife, Laurie Snell, or their children.

“Did you ever choke your wife?” Parnell’s attorney asked during a custody hearing. “Never,” Parnell responded, according to local reports.

Parnell also denied allegations that he left Snell on the side of the road, told her to get an abortion, and violently struck their children.

“It just wasn’t a good relationship,” Parnell said of his marriage.

In one of the more dramatic exchanges, Parnell denied striking his child and claimed that a photo produced by Snell’s lawyer of a purported bruise on his child’s back was in fact not of his child.

Parnell, a former Army Ranger, wrote a New York Times bestselling memoir of his time in Afghanistan and was a regular guest on Fox News before jumping into the Republican primary. Parnell has openly discussed being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Parnell received former President Donald Trump’s highly coveted endorsement in the primary despite losing to Conor Lamb (D-PA) in a 2020 race for a House seat.

Trump released a statement in September saying Parnell “has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

Parnell will “make Pennsylvania very proud and will fight for Election Integrity, Strong Borders, our Second Amendment, Energy Jobs, and so much more,” Trump added.

Parnell is running in a crowded field against conservative commentator Kathy Barnette, real estate investor Jeff Bartos, anti-Trump Craig Snyder, and Carla Sands who served as Trump’s ambassador to Denmark. The allegations of domestic abuse against Parnell have been a major issue in the primary.