U.S. Sen. Rick Scott became the latest political leader calling for Republican Party of Florida Chair Christian Ziegler to resign.
"I'm very concerned about the reports I've read," the Naples Republican said. "The allegations are very disturbing."
Ziegler since October has been under active criminal investigation after a woman accused him of rape. A search warrant, secured to obtain video of the incident on Ziegler's phone, showed that Ziegler acknowledged a sexual encounter but claimed it was consensual. Ziegler and his wife, Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, also told police they had participated a three-way sexual encounter more than a year prior to the incident.
Scott stressed that Ziegler has the right to defend himself in court, but said he cannot effectively lead the state party.
"Everyone deserves their day in court and Christian and Bridget have been friends of mine throughout my career," Scott said. "The Party has a very important decision before it, and the decision has to be made on what is best for winning elections in 2024. I don't see how Christian can continue to successfully act as Chairman while this cloud hovers over him. I'm praying for everyone involved in this."
Scott became the first Republican in Florida's congressional delegation to call for Ziegler's resignation. He follows several state officials in making the call.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday, the day news of the investigation first broke, called for Ziegler to step down. Over the weekend, Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner also said Ziegler should no longer lead the party.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried also called on her GOP counterpart to resign shortly after accusations first publicly emerged. The Democratic leadership in the Legislature also called for the same, with Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book and House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell each posting on social media that Ziegler must go.
No comments:
Post a Comment