Empanadas

This is pretty horrible on many, many levels:

In a statement, Emily Moreno’s spokesperson Stefan Mychajliw said it was “shameful” for Miller “to go on a bizarre and lie-filled rant about his ex-wife to desperately try to save his political career.”

“There is a documented trove of evidence that Miller has a history of violent and dangerous behavior and no amount of victim shaming will change that,” Mychajliw said in a statement on X. “It is despicable and abhorrent that Miller lied on an unhinged and humiliating video for their daughter to watch one day.”

He added, “No loving parent would have ever used their daughter as a PR pawn to save their own political career. Miller can lie and spin on X, but he cannot do so under oath in a court of law. We are confident that justice will prevail in court.”

New details on allegations that Miller poured hot water on Emily Moreno, held a gun to her head and broke his daughter’s collarbone have drawn attention to his Ohio House race.

Miller attributed the accusation of pouring hot water on his ex-wife to “horseplay in our kitchen,” when he sprayed water from a sprayer attached to the sink. He also pointed to past comments from Emily Moreno that Miller had never harmed their daughter and that she had offered to cook empanadas and go to the playground with Miller after the alleged abuse.

“My former wife would not have been offering to cook me dinner and inviting me to playgrounds,” Miller said. “And I certainly would not have joint custody of my daughter.”

Sunday’s statement is the first from Bernie Moreno directly weighing in on Miller ahead of Wednesday’s deadline to put someone else on the ballot. Miller has made no indication he’ll drop out of the race, and Democrats now see the district as a potential flip opportunity.

Republicans, meanwhile, have largely been silent, and previously, Bernie Moreno himself had made few comments on the incident, noting in a statement through a spokesperson he doesn’t “litigate these matters in the media” and that his “top priority is the safety and well-being of his daughter and granddaughter.”

But he went further than he had before with his statement following Miller’s extensive comments on Sunday’s livestream, writing in his X post, “It has been horrific to watch this play out in full public view.”

“Our priority has always been protecting our daughter and our granddaughter,” Bernie Moreno said. “Out of concern for the safety of my family, I hoped to keep this matter private but Max Miller’s increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior has made that impossible.”

He added, “As he has admitted privately, Max Miller needs serious psychological help. He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.”

I just hope Max Miller doesn’t go the family annihilator route now that Bernie Moreno seems to have located his temporarily misplaced conscience and backbone.