Here we are, just scant days away from the crucial midterm elections, and if you really want to understand why the MAGA Republicans seem destined to lose control of Congress, check out the macho meathead who’s running for re-election in Ohio.
I’m well aware the most farcical story in Ohio right now is the TV ad sponsored by character assassin Vivek Ramaswamy, the MAGA gubernatorial candidate, who decided to exploit the fact opponent Amy Acton was raped as a child.
But the sick saga of Max Miller arguably deserves an equally prominent place in the MAGA hall of infamy.
His own father-in-law publicly demanded that Miller quit his House race – “This is truly the seventh circle of hell. My daughter lives in constant fear of this man” – and what’s truly astonishing is the father-in-law is Bernie Moreno, one of Ohio’s Republican senators.
In a more rational political climate, there would be zero tolerance for a male congressman who’s been credibly accused of beating up his wife. It’s what happened not long ago when Maine Democrats drove Graham Platner out of their Senate race.
Alas, MAGA-world doesn’t run that way.
Miller and Emily Moreno got married at Trump’s Bedminster Country Club in 2022, with Trump in attendance. By 2024, they were splitsville, and just a few months ago the dirt went public. In court documents, Emily said Max had physically abused her, throwing her against a wall, scalding her with hot water, and holding a gun to her head. (Max denies all that.) She accused him of physically harming their two-year-old daughter. (Max denies that.) The ex-couple is fighting over custody, and Emily told investigators her daughter said to her, “Daddy’s house is scary.”
This past summer, a smattering of Republicans and conservative allies joined father-in-law Bernie Moreno’s plea that Miller quit the quest for re-election. In the words of Aaron Baer, president of Ohio’s Center for Christian virtue, “The whole thing is repulsive. Max Miller needs to drop out and get help.” His House district in suburban Cleveland has long been safely red, but Miller’s woes have put the district in play.
Enter Trump. Of course.
When asked in August to assess Miller’s character, he replied: “I know Max, he’s a good person. I mean, I always thought he was a very good person” – despite the fact that Stephanie Grisham, one of Trump’s former aides, had dated Miller during Trump’s first term – and subsequently told Trump and wife Melania that Miller had been physically abusive. Grisham wrote in the Washington Post the dynamic duo was no help.
The depravity starts at the top, with the guy who’s been credibly accused by several dozen women of sexual misconduct, was found liable in civil court of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, and spent years partying and palling with serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
But aside from the reactionary machismo, Trump stands with Miller because Miller has been licking his shoes since 2016. Miller had some minor White House gigs during Trump’s first term, but he truly made his bones with Trump as an advance man, queuing up playlists for MAGA rallies and doing it so well Trump nicknamed him “The Music Man.” After Trump was decisively ousted in the 2020 election, his very first stop in 2021, as president in exile, was an Ohio event for aspiring congressman Miller.
Virtually any other Republican would win Miller’s Ohio district with ease, but, as we’ve seen during this campaign season, MAGAts are stubbornly self-destructive. When under fire, their only play is to make matters worse by doubling down – as evidenced in Ohio by Miller’s decision to sue his ex-wife for “defamation” and to tough it out in a House race that should not be a toss up.
At one point he denied the domestic violence allegations by claiming that Emily had texted an offer to cook him dinner. I shook my head when I heard that one. Decades ago, while I was working on a magazine series about domestic violence, I repeatedly interviewed female victims who’d tried every possible tactic, including cooking, to salvage their marriages and keep the peace for the sake of themselves and their kids.
Worse yet, Miller cites Trump as his guiding light. In a recent appearance on CNN, he said that in 2016, “President Donald J. Trump faced the most extreme allegations in the world that hit him day after day after day… And guess what? He stayed in and he was resilient.” What an inspiration! I’ve got goosebumps.
If this were a rational world, Bernie Moreno, the father-in-law and Ohio senator, would’ve been joined by most of his fellow Republicans, pressuring Miller to hit the road. These words of his would’ve been sufficient: “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 daughter.”
But the morally depraved cult is a profile in cowardice. Miller’s red Ohio seat deserves to be drowned in a blue wave.
Copyright 2026 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes the Subject to Change newsletter. Email him at [email protected]