Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
- Christian Ziegler, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, has been suspended by his party.
- Ziegler was accused of rape by a woman he and his wife, Bridget, had a threesome with.
- Ziegler's GOP colleagues said he tried to defend himself, but it was "not working."
Christian Ziegler, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, has been suspended from his position by a party vote.
It comes after Ziegler was accused of rape by a woman who he and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, previously had a threesome with.
"Ziegler on soap box trying to defend himself, not working," tweeted Michael Thompson, the Chairman of the Lee County Republican Executive Committee.
A motion to censure Ziegler said he had "engaged in conduct that renders him unfit to continue to serve as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida."
"Motion to suspend Zieglers authority passes," Thompson added on X shortly afterward on Sunday.
Ziegler and his attorney did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment on Sunday. Sarasota Police Department is still investigating the allegation, and Ziegler has not been charged with a crime.
After a threesome between the Zieglers and an unnamed woman, the trio scheduled a second meeting, but the woman canceled after she found out Bridget Ziegler couldn't make it, BI previously reported. The woman later told the Sarasota Police Department that Christian Ziegler showed up at her apartment and assaulted her, according to The Washington Post. Ziegler has denied the allegation and said the encounter was consensual.
The scandal has also put pressure on Bridget Ziegler to resign from the Sarasota County School Board, which she recently declined to do. Though she no longer works with Moms for Liberty, the "parental rights" group she co-founded vocally advocated against allowing books, or even conversations, that mention gender, sexuality, or LGBTQ topics in schools.
Moms for Liberty is considered an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which says the group has "spread hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community."