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A rape accusation against the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Same-sex sexual encounters involving a woman who has supported Florida\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d\u00a0law. Allegations of secretly recorded threesomes. An alleged demand for $2 million to go away. A shout-out from Donald Trump.<\/strong> What do these things have in common? They all involve Bridget<\/strong> and Christian Ziegler,<\/strong> the Florida MAGA couple who\u2019ve found themselves in the news a lot lately, and not for anything good.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s everything we know about the duo, and their scandal, so far.<\/p>\n Who are Bridget and Christian Ziegler?<\/strong><\/p>\n They\u2019re a \u201cFlorida Republican power couple<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0He\u2019s the chairman of the state\u2019s Republican Party and she\u2019s the cofounder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, sits on the Sarasota County School Board, and was appointed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis<\/strong> to the board that took over Disney\u2019s special taxing district after it spoke out against his bigoted \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d law.<\/p>\n Why are they in the news?<\/strong><\/p>\n Primarily because in November, Christian was accused of raping<\/a> a woman a month prior. According to a search warrant affidavit<\/a>, Christian and Bridget, who are married, had made plans to have sex with the alleged victim on October 2, but after Bridget couldn\u2019t make it, the woman canceled, writing in a text message, \u201cSorry I was mostly in for her.\u201d According to the affidavit<\/a>, minutes later, she opened her apartment door to find Christian, who, the affidavit says, proceeded to enter her apartment and rape her.<\/p>\n Per the affidavit, later that month detectives monitored Instagram DMs between Christian and the woman, in which he allegedly asked several times how he could help her, with her responding, \u201cYou caused this. You can\u2019t help me.\u201d Later, detectives wrote in the affidavit, he \u201crepeatedly referred to the victim as his friend in an effort to minimize the situation. He would deflect by trying to change the subject when confronted.\u201d At one point, he wrote, \u201cWhere r u? Wanna meet and chat? Worried about you. You are my friend,\u201d to which the victim responded<\/a>, \u201cHell no not after what you did to me. Do you not understand I am terrified of you?\u201d<\/p>\n Christian Ziegler, who is under criminal investigation<\/a> but thus far not been charged, has denied<\/a> the rape\u00a0allegation\u00a0and claimed the interaction was consensual.<\/p>\n Where does Bridget Ziegler come into all this?<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the search warrant affidavit, the Zieglers, per NBC News<\/a>, \u201chad a longtime consensual sexual relationship with the accuser.\u201d Bridget Ziegler has not been accused of wrongdoing, but she at least looks guilty of incredible hypocrisy given her anti-LGBTQ+ work. Ziegler has said she had a hand in helping write Florida\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d law, and Moms for Liberty, which Ziegler cofounded, has been labeled<\/a> an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It advocates, per The Seattle Times<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> \u201cagainst school curricula that mention LGBTQ+ rights, race, critical race theory and discrimination, while multiple chapters have also campaigned to ban from school libraries books that address gender and sexuality issues.\u201d<\/p>\n The group has said<\/a> two girls kissing during a homecoming event was \u201clewd\u201d and \u201ctraumatic\u201d; it tried to get a book with an illustration of seahorses linking tails banned; and it attacked<\/a> the Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide among LGBTQ+ teens. Last year, on an episode of Field Report With Paola Ramos,<\/strong><\/em> a Moms for Liberty activist said LGBTQ+ students should be taught separately from their straight, cisgender peers, likening the situation to \u201cchildren with autism, Down Syndrome\u201d being put in separate classes.<\/p>\n What are the people around the Zieglers saying?<\/strong><\/p>\n The entire Sarasota County School Board has demanded Bridget Ziegler resign, which she has refused<\/a> to do, saying this week she was \u201cdisappointed\u201d that they asked her to step down. Paulina Testerman,<\/strong> one of the founders of Support Our Schools, which defends public education, told<\/a> The Daily Beast, \u201cMany of us have stood at the podium of countless school board meetings and listened to Mrs. Ziegler drag the LGBT+ community, so it\u2019s natural to want to celebrate when bullies get what\u2019s coming.\u201d Ziegler\u2019s term ends in 2026, and only DeSantis can remove her.<\/p>\n As for Christian Ziegler, the calls for him to resign as chair of the Florida Republican Party have been deafening, with everyone from DeSantis<\/a> to the Speaker of the Florida House and the state Senate president, as well as Senator Rick Scott,<\/strong> calling for him to resign<\/a>. Michael Thompson,<\/strong> the leader of the Lee County Republican Executive Committee, told<\/a> NBC News he guesses just 2% of party leaders want Ziegler to stay on as chair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n