It’s such a classic Florida tale that the first reaction to the story of Bridget and Christian Ziegler might be just to stuff it into an already thick folder full of Sunshine State craziness and pay it little mind. It deserves more attention than that.
One thing that makes this story more important than its sordid details is the way it broke. The Florida Trident, an online publication of a non-profit group, the Florida Center for Government Accountability, published a story based on a heavily redacted police report in which a woman accused Christian Ziegler, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, of sexual assault. Other mainstream news organizations quickly picked up on the story, adding new details.
The woman who filed the complaint also said she’d had a three-way sexual encounter which included Bridget Ziegler, who is a member of the Sarasota County school board and a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, the social conservative group that has established a foothold on school boards across the country but got thumped in this year’s elections. She sits on the Disney World oversight board set up by Gov. Ron DeSantis and played a role in crafting the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.
The woman made these charges after police visited her on a tip from a co-worker that she was despondent, drinking heavily and in danger of hurting herself. Some aspects of the woman’s story have come under question since then but in the worst possible way for the Zieglers’ reputation as a right-wing power couple.
All three participants told police the previous three-way encounter had occurred. The woman told police they arranged another encounter, but when Bridget couldn’t make it, she backed out, texting a message, “Sorry I was mostly in it for her” to Christian.
She claims he came over anyway and sexually assaulted her. He claims the encounter was consensual, and police are in possession of a cell phone video he made, which may support his story.
That’s right. The best evidence the chairman of the Florida Republican Party has against a criminal charge is a homemade sex tape.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and several other prominent Florida Republicans have called on Ziegler to step down as party chair, although no criminal charges have been filed against him yet. Ziegler has refused to step down, and this is another reason this isn’t just another Florida story.
In private conversations, Ziegler reportedly compared his situation with that of former President Donald Trump and claimed that Trump’s silence on the matter was a tacit show of support. There have been other reports the Trump campaign is moving quickly to distance itself from Ziegler, whom Trump supported in his race for party chairman.
However that sorts out, comparisons are sure to be made. Ziegler has advised conservative activists never to apologize, even when they are wrong about something, and he has so far taken his own advice.
“We have a country to save, and I am not going to let false allegations of a crime put that mission on the bench as I wait for this process to wrap up,” he wrote in an email to Florida Republicans.
Whether the criminal allegations are true or false, the facts that the Zieglers have owned up to and even recorded on video obviously are at variance with their straight-laced public image. So far, Ziegler has shown no sign that he considers his private choices any reason to step down or, for that matter, apologize for. His refusal comes at a time when the public’s tolerance for indiscretions is being tested anew.
Bridget Ziegler has resigned from a conservative institute since the story broke, and a resolution will be introduced this week calling for her to step down from the Sarasota County board. Although she isn’t being investigated for any crime, she has been the first to feel the consequences.
Last month, a Florida school board candidate running under the Moms for Liberty banner walked into a police station and demanded that two librarians from the local school be arrested on pornography charges for allowing students to check out a young adult novel with some racy passages. She should only have known what the Zieglers were up to.
