Donald Trump refused to call for Rep. Max Miller’s resignation despite mounting domestic abuse allegations. He called the situation a “very sad thing,” leaving the dispute to the families involved.
The president addressed the controversy on Monday, August 3, after reporters asked whether Miller should step down from Congress following accusations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno.
“I know Max as being a good person,” Trump said (via CNN). “Those families, I know they’re working on it. It’s a very sad thing, especially when you know somebody so well, to be going through that, but it’s accusations.”
He added, “I’m going to let the families figure that out.”
Moreno has accused her former husband of repeated physical abuse. Miller allegedly threw her against a wall, held a g*n to her head, threw hot water on her and physically harmed their 2-year-old daughter.
However, he has denied every allegation and filed a defamation lawsuit against Moreno. The two are also facing each other in court, fighting a custody battle.
Moreno’s father, Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, publicly declared that his former son-in-law “should not serve in the House of Representatives.”
He also said, “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them,” and added that he worries “every minute” Miller has custody of his granddaughter.
Miller denied all allegations during a 20-minute livestream on X, accusing Moreno of fabricating the claims and alleging she has “significant mental health challenges.”
“If these accusations were true, I would be in jail,” Miller said. He argued that the fact that he still shares custody of his daughter undermines the allegations against him.
He denied throwing hot water at Moreno and described the incident as “horseplay in our kitchen” with water that “was not boiling.”
Moreover, he also rejected claims that he held a g*n to her head and denied allegations that he fractured his daughter’s collarbone. Despite growing calls for him to step aside, Miller said he has no plans to end his reelection campaign.
“I’m not getting out of this race and I’m winning in November,” he said during the livestream.
He later doubled down in a statement, declaring, “If I dropped out of this race, it would mean we as a nation have fallen so far from our American values. I will not validate false claims by removing myself just to please the court of public opinion. I am innocent of all of the allegations that have been attributed to me.”
