Domestic-Abuse Allegations in the Age of Trump

A Family Tragedy in the Age of Trump

The divorce of young MAGA royalty—Ohio Representative Max Miller and Emily Moreno, daughter of Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno—has morphed from a deeply personal family tragedy into a highly public political spectacle. Republicans have been reluctant to say that an alleged domestic abuser (especially one facing allegations from two women) is probably a poor choice to represent their party this November.

This is now a party whose leader has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women; a party whose president was found liable in a civil trial for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll; a party whose chief once palled around with Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious convicted sex offender. And so perhaps only in President Trump's Republican Party does believing all women—or even some women, some of the time—become politically fraught.

Bernie Moreno declared yesterday that Miller should not serve in the House of Representatives, writing on X that the past two years have been 'pure hell' for his family. 'Max Miller needs serious psychological help,' Moreno wrote. 'He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.' He concluded by saying that he owed it to his wife, 'to Emily, and to my granddaughter to speak the truth now.'

Moreno's statement came after Miller appeared on a roughly 20-minute live stream that morning, in which he refused to drop out of his House race and explained that he strived to comport himself with 'dignity' for the sake of his daughter—all while proceeding to publicly impugn his daughter's mother.

Initially, Moreno found himself on a tiny island of Republicans who believe that an alleged domestic abuser is not fit to serve in Congress. When Trump was asked on Air Force One yesterday if he thought Miller should resign, he said he would 'look at it,' but noted, 'so far it's accusations.' He repeated that stance in the Oval Office this afternoon, calling Miller 'a good person' and suggesting that this is a situation that needs to be resolved within the family, not within the party.

A representative for Miller declined to comment. But by this evening, as the Senate returned and reporters pressed lawmakers on Miller's fate, a growing number of Republicans conceded that maybe he wasn't the best candidate, after all.

Trump also reportedly called Miller today to express concerns about his candidacy, according to Axios. But a person familiar with Trump's concerns told me that even if the president pushed Miller to bow out, they weren't certain the young House member would heed the president's advice.

Claims of misbehavior and anger issues have dogged Miller since at least high school, and Emily Moreno is not the first woman to accuse him of being violent. When Miller first ran for office in 2021, former White House communications director Stephanie Grisham said that when she dated him during Trump's first term, their relationship had turned physically abusive. (Grisham wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in October 2021 that she told both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, for whom she also worked, about the abuse, and they did nothing.) Miller denied the accusations and sued Grisham for defamation, before dropping the lawsuit as part of a confidential settlement.

That same year, a Politico profile of Miller recounted several brushes he had with authorities when he was younger, including charges of assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest as a high school senior. The story also detailed how Miller allegedly pushed a girl out of his room after she resisted his advances, and she fell down some stairs, an incident sourced to three people who said they were present at the time and more who said they heard about the incident in the aftermath.

At the time, Miller told Politico through a lawyer that he 'categorically denies' the event. A description in that profile from someone who knew Miller during his earlier years—and described him as someone who 'could be very scary'—has stayed with me: 'I can, like, see the red face.'

From the June issue: The men who want women to be quiet

In mid-July, a Mother Jones piece unearthed new allegations against Miller, based on more than 2,000 pages of court filings and police reports that writer Abby Vesoulis obtained through public records requests that contain 'allegations of drug use by Miller, misogyny and verbal abuse, and violent behavior against multiple women,' she writes. A report about a collarbone injury his daughter suffered, for instance, includes Emily Moreno telling investigators that her daughter told her, 'Daddy's house is scary.' (Miller's spokesperson did not directly address all of the magazine's questions, but pointed to previous statements Miller and his representatives have made to other news organizations, denying he has ever been violent toward women.)

Then, a New York Times article last week brought more attention to the allegations, raising uncomfortable questions for the Republican Party about why its members seem so reluctant to suggest that Miller step aside.

For a time, this included Moreno himself. I am not unsympathetic to Bernie Moreno. I am the stepmom in a blended family, and I understand a key tenet of Divorce 101, especially when there are kids, is to ne