Trump Officials Reportedly Told Republicans Trying To Oust Embattled Congressman To ‘Back Off’ 

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Members of President Donald Trump’s team told Republicans in Ohio not to pressure embattled Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) to drop out of the race amid serious allegations against him, Politico reported on Monday.

Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno – the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) – alleges Miller pointed a gun at her head, threw scalding hot water at her, pushed her into a wall, and fractured their two-year-old daughter’s collarbone. Miller denies the accusations. Meanwhile, Stephanie Grisham, who served as Trump’s White House communications director and press secretary in the first term and dated Miller in 2019 and 2020, has also accused Miller of abuse. Also, Multiple former classmates of Miller’s said that in high school, he pushed a girl out of his room and she fell down some stairs.

Miller has refused calls to drop his reelection bid against Democratic challenger Brian Poindexter in Ohio’s 7th congressional district, which has been a fairly safe seat for Republicans. However, some are concerned that the seat is now in jeopardy, with The Cook Political Report rating the race a toss-up.

Last week, Axios reported that Trump phoned Miller and said, “Things aren’t looking good.” A handful of Republican senators have called on Miller to step down. But on Monday, Politico said Trump and his team have told Republicans in Ohio to refrain from publicly pressuring the congressman, according to three sources who spoke to the outlet.

“They basically told us to back off,” one Ohio Republican who participated in the conversations said, “and let the voters decide.”

“Miller faced a 4 p.m. Monday deadline to drop out, and state party leaders would have had to schedule a meeting to discuss his replacement two days prior to that,” Politico explained.

“At one point, Republicans in the state discussed scheduling the required meeting to replace Miller, in the hopes it would pressure him to drop out of the race, according to two of the people,” the publication added. “But Ohio Republicans scuttled that effort as White House officials warned them that Miller would not drop out and Republicans would likely have to defend the seat without a new GOP replacement contender.”

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