深陷舆论漩涡的共和党众议员马克斯・米勒，遭到越来越多共和党参议员呼吁辞职、或是放弃连任竞选。但米勒否认前妻对他的虐待指控，至今表态会继续参选。
俄亥俄州共和党参议员乔恩・赫斯特德此前数天一直回避相关问题，周四他公开表示，米勒应当退出竞选、离开国会。
赫斯特德在 X 平台发文称：“我认为，米勒退出竞选、辞去国会议员职务，才是正确的选择，他应当把女儿的最大利益放在首位。多年以后回望，他会明白，这对女儿而言是正确决定。”
后续被问及为何时隔许久才公开要求米勒辞职，赫斯特德仅表示：“情况已经不言而喻。”
而米勒本人否认自己存在任何不当行为，坚称会继续角逐连任。
本周早些时候，米勒在 CNN《头条》节目接受杰克・塔珀采访时表示：“我会继续努力，我会赢得这场选举。”
据知情人士透露，尽管米勒公开态度强硬，拒不退出竞选，但党内官员仍在极力施压，希望他放弃参选。党内高层认为，米勒如今可能会毁掉共和党拿下该选区的机会。
俄亥俄州第七国会选区向来是共和党稳固票仓，2024 年大选中，特朗普在此选区的得票领先幅度达到 11 个百分点。
知情人士向 CNN 透露，目前施压行动尚未奏效，但预计会有更多议员发声，要求米勒退出选举。
上周末，俄亥俄州共和党参议员伯尼・莫雷诺 —— 也就是米勒的前岳父，公开表态米勒 “不配在国会任职”，称他 “对我的女儿构成威胁”。
莫雷诺在 X 平台写道：“他不应该继续担任联邦众议员。”
阿拉巴马州共和党参议员凯蒂・布里特对莫雷诺表示支持。当被问及参议员们是否应当要求米勒下台时，她告诉 CNN：“我们应当站在伯尼这边。”
“我为他的外孙女和女儿感到心碎。她们的安全才是头等大事，我们要和伯尼站在一起。” 布里特说道。
本周早些时候，莫雷诺向记者透露，米勒曾扣留女儿，也就是他的外孙女的一只蓝色小兔子玩偶。他称，有一次 “马克斯拒不交出那只蓝色小兔子，实实在在把玩偶扣下长达 48 小时。”
“孩子夜里哭个不停，没有这只小兔子就睡不着觉。” 莫雷诺说。
周二米勒接受塔珀采访时对此予以否认：“这只不过是某人出于政治报复而编造的说辞。”
周三，米勒在 X 平台发文，要求莫雷诺 “停止散布谎言”。
蒙大拿州共和党参议员蒂姆・希伊周四针对媒体关于蓝色小兔子玩偶的报道，在 X 平台表态：“米勒应当退选并寻求心理帮助。执意参选，会大大增加我们丢失这一席位的风险，进而让民主党掌握多数席位，启动弹劾特朗普总统的程序。”
也有共和党议员选择置身事外，南达科他州共和党参议员迈克・朗兹便是其中之一。
CNN 提问，鉴于莫雷诺已经公开把家庭纠纷公之于众，米勒是否应当下台或停止参选。朗兹回应：“这件事涉及莫雷诺参议员的至亲，情况十分敏感，交由他来发声就好。我没有持续跟进此事，掌握的信息和普通人没有区别，我不会介入。”
朗兹着重强调：“遭到指控是一回事，相关调查工作，应当交给办案人员主导。”
Rep． Max Miller faces growing calls to resign from Senate Republicans
Embattled GOP Rep． Max Miller is facing growing calls from Senate Republicans to resign or end his reelection bid – but has so far vowed to remain in the race as he denies abuse allegations from his ex-wife．
Sen． Jon Husted， an Ohio Republican， said on Thursday – after sidestepping questions on the matter for days – that Miller should end his campaign and leave Congress．
“I believe Max would be making the right decision to step aside as a candidate and resign from Congress to focus on what is in the best interest of his daughter． Years from now， I believe he will look back and know it was the right choice for her，” Hustedposted on X．
Pressed later on why he took so long to call on Miller to resign， Husted said： “That speaks for itself．”
Miller， meanwhile， hasdenied any wrongdoingand vowed to stay in his reelection race．
“I’m going to continue to push． I am going to win this race，” Miller told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” earlier this week．
While publicly Miller continues to be defiant that he won’t abandon his bid for reelection， an intense push to get him out of the race is still underway by party officials， who believe he could now imperil the GOP’s chances in the district， according to a source familiar with the matter．
Ohio’s 7th Congressional District is solidly Republican with Trump winning there by 11 points in 2024．
So far， the efforts haven’t been successful， but the slew of statements calling for him to get out are expected to continue， the source told CNN．
Over the weekend， Ohio GOP Sen． Bernie Moreno – Miller’s former father-in-law –saidthat Miller “should not serve” in Congress， calling him “a danger to my daughter．”
“He should not serve in the House of Representatives，” Morenosaid on X．
Sen． Katie Britt， an Alabama Republican， backed up Moreno， telling CNN “we should stand with Bernie” when asked if senators need to call for Miller to step aside．
“My heart is broken for his granddaughter and his daughter． Their safety is what’s most important and we should stand with Bernie，” she told CNN．
Speaking to reporters earlier this week， Sen． Moreno suggested that Miller had withheld a blue bunny from his daughter – the senator’s granddaughter – saying that at one point “Max would not hand over the little blue bunny， literally held it hostage for 48 hours．
“This girl is crying at night because she can’t sleep without her little blue bunny，” he said．
In the interview with Tapper on Tuesday， Miller denied that， saying， “This is nothing more than an individual who’s being politically vindictive．”
On Wednesday， Millerposted on Xa message to Sen． Moreno to “stop the lies．”
Montana GOP Sen． Tim Sheehy said on X Thursday， responding to a post by a reporter regarding the blue bunny， “Max should step aside and seek help． Staying in this race makes it far more likely we lose this seat and hand Democrats a majority to impeach President Trump．”
Another Republican – GOP Sen． Mike Rounds of South Dakota – said he would stay out of the matter．
Asked by CNN if Miller should step down or stop running given how open Moreno has been about the ordeal， Rounds replied， “I think if Senator Moreno has made it very clear that it’s a very sensitive family member， and I’ll let him do it． I’m not following it， and I don’t have any more information than anybody else has． I will stay out of it．”
Rounds emphasized， “It’s one thing to be accused． I’ll let those individuals who are investigating it take the lead．”
