Max Miller allegations force Trump, GOP into thorny spot
The Hill · C · trust 69/100
Comments: by Julia Manchester - 08/05/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Manchester - 08/05/26 6:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING The domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) are forcing President Trump and Republicans into a difficult position ahead of the midterms as the party struggles to defend their congressional majorities.
The president called the congressman on Monday to tell him his candidacy was on thin ice after earlier praising him publicly as “a good person,” telling reporters the allegations are “a very sad thing.”
Miller said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that a “supportive” Trump told him during their call that his chances of winning reelection were growing slim.
The congressman said in a subsequent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that he told Trump he would be successful when the president expressed doubt over whether Miller could win.
“He said, ‘Max, it’s going to be a tough race,’ and he said, ‘I don’t know if you’re going to be able to, you know, pull this one out.’ And you know what, Jake, I reminded him of the same resilience that he had when people told him that he was going to struggle in 2016 and he became the 45th president of the United States, and I have the utmost confidence that my constituents back home know me.”
However, a source familiar with the call told The Hill that Trump had informed Miller he should drop out.
Senate Republicans have become increasingly vocal on the subject. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Miller shouldn’t be in office, and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) called on Miller to resign on Monday. Those calls came after Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who is the father of Miller’s ex-wife Emily Moreno, called on Miller to step down over the weekend.
The growing coverage surrounding the allegations, which Miller has denied, risks putting the congressman’s relatively safe House seat in jeopardy.
Miller would need to resign or drop out by Aug.10 for Republicans to be able to replace him on the ballot.
“With him on the ballot, it’s incredibly difficult to hold a seat that they should,” said one Ohio political strategist, arguing it could play a role in whether Republicans hold their House majority or not.
“It would be great if for one moment Max Miller cared about someone other than himself,” the strategist added.
Another Republican strategist noted there is currently no effort to replace Miller.
Miller’s Democratic opponent Brian Poindexter condemned the allegations in a social media post on Monday, saying, “No one credibly accused of holding a gun to his wife’s head and breaking their two-year-old daughter’s collarbone belongs in the halls of power.”
CJ Warnke, communications director at the House Majority PAC, said the group “is willing to do whatever it takes to take back the House, and nothing is off the table.”
Still, Democrats would face an uphill climb in the district. Miller won reelection in 2024 by 15 points, while Trump won it by 11 points. Democrats are also already defending incumbent Ohio Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Emilia Sykes and Greg Landsman.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the race from “solidly Republican” to “likely Republican” in June, while the University of Virginia Center for Politics shifted the seat from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” late last month.
“This is no longer about one person; it’s about ensuring the focus remains on delivering for Ohio families rather than defending constant controversy,” said Mehek Cooke, an Ohio Republican strategist.
Parallels are being drawn between the Miller saga and that of former Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who suspended his election campaign last month following sexual assault allegations.
Like Platner, Miller and his party leaders have been forced to publicly respond to the allegations against him, taking focus off policy priorities. Additionally, if Miller were to drop out, Ohio Republicans would have to scramble to find a replacement candidate who they could sell to voters in a period of roughly three months.
Republicans note that unlike the situation in Maine, where Platner’s replacement Troy Jackson is running against a formidable Republican incumbent in Sen. Susan Collins, a replacement for Miller would be running against a nonincumbent candidate in Poindexter.
But Miller, who has consistently denied the allegations and sued his ex-wife for defamation in May, has shown no sign he is willing to resign or suspend his reelection campaign.
On Tuesday, he announced on social media that he will file his own paperwork for an ethics investigation into himself to clear his name from “these horrific attacks” on himself and his family.
In a nearly 20-minute livestream video released on Sunday, the congressman pushed back on specific allegations, such as throwing scalding hot water on his ex-wife.
“Ask yourself, if I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?” Miller said in the video.
A source close to the White House said the video was a major unforced error by Miller.
“If that moron didn’t do that livestream, you and I wouldn’t be talking about this right now,” the source said.
Trump has enjoyed a good relationship with both Bernie Moreno and Miller. The president attended and spoke at Miller’s 2022 wedding to Emily Moreno.
Former White House press secretary and communications director Stephanie Grisham dated Miller and has said she told Trump and first lady Melania Trump about what she called an abusive relationship following their breakup during the first Trump administration. Grisham’s attorney announced on social media that she filed a temporary restraining order against Miller on Monday.
Trump endorsed Miller’s original election bid in 2022.
Cooke pushed back on the notion that the situation has a strong impact on Trump himself, arguing his agenda “is much bigger than any one candidate.”
“Every election cycle has…
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