Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Montana) has had a heckin’ wild three-odd weeks. In that brief time, he announced a run for the US Senate, dropped out of that Senate race a week later, filing instead for reelection to his seat in the House, and then, in a classic Friday News Dump, he announced on Twitter in an ALL CAPS STATEMENT that he will not be seeking reelection and will leave the House at the end of the current session.
In the statement, which we have switched to conventional capitalization because we respect you, Rosendale said he had
been forced to have law enforcement visit my children because of a death threat against me and false and defamatory rumors against me and my family. This has taken a serious toll on me, and my family. Additionally, it has caused a serious disruption to the election of the next representative for [Montana’s District 2 congressional seat].
Rosendale also said that the “current attacks have made it impossible for me to focus on my work to serve you,” so he had withdrawn from the race “in the best interest of my family in the community.”
The Montana Free Press reports that Rosendale said
that at about the time he filed for re-election, a death threat was made against him that resulted in the U.S. Capitol Police contacting law enforcement in Montana who sent officers to one of his sons’ homes.
Rosendale dropped out of the Senate race on February 15, right after Donald Trump endorsed new-to-Montana bidnissman and political first-timer Tim Sheehy; at the time, Rosendale said Trump’s endorsement of Sheehy was the main factor in his decision to drop out.
Shortly after that that announcement, Rosendale got Big Mad at former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-Nort’ Dakota), who said on a February 26 podcast that Rosendale dropped his Senate run because of a rumor “that he impregnated a 20-year-old staff person.” Heitkamp also suggested that the House Republican caucus “might lose a member in the next couple days. Might be the congressman from Montana.”
Rosendale quickly denied the rumor, and his spokesperson Ron Kovach threatened legal action, saying in a statement, “This is 100% false and defamatory and former Senator Heitkamp will be hearing from our lawyers soon.”
Heitkamp hasn’t said anything more, and the Montana Free Press reported March 1 that it hasn’t turned up anything solid at all, although its reporters
have been aware of the rumors for weeks, and have sought to confirm whether there’s any truth to them. No one we’ve spoken to has presented anything approaching proof of such an affair, and neither has anyone taken responsibility for spreading the rumor.
That story does note that right around the time Rosendale ended his Senate run and filed for reelection to the House, the “unsubstantiated rumor began circulating in Montana and in Washington, D.C. that Rosendale had conducted an affair with a staffer,” but that because the details were “hazy” and nobody offered any evidence, press outlets left the vaporous story alone until Heitkamp aired it on the podcast.
That’s where the story remains to this point, even with Rosendale’s departure from the House race yesterday. Montana attorney and former lobbyist Abra Belke, who told the Montana Free Press she was “one of the first 25 people to hear the rumor,” had no details either, noting that the speculation has been fairly nutty:
“There’s three different names, six different versions of the story. People are being named on Twitter, in the comment section of news articles.” […]
“It’s really ridiculous that the only people who seemed to be showing some restraint are the people who would normally be jumping on these rumors like catnip, and that’s the press,” Belke said.
There’s also been robust speculation about how the rumor may have gotten into circulation and whether it was an attempt to ratfuck Rosendale’s reelection bid, so now there are rumors about rumors and for some reason we feel like listening to that Fleetwood Mac album, too, or at least the “You’re Wrong About” podcast episode about its genesis.
So what are we to think of Rosendale’s sudden departure from a second campaign? Damned if we know, but we’re primed to be skeptical of the reason he gave. Now, it goes without saying that death threats are never acceptable, and in this age of rage algorithms, easy access to military grade weaponry, and stochastic terrorism — much of it stoked by decades of rightwing anti-government rhetoric — it would be foolish to dismiss any threat. Rosendale hasn’t offered any details on the threat, although presumably he’s reported it to law enforcement.
But it’s also an age of pervasive cynicism, so we also can’t help but point out that while threats and terrible online invective have become part of the background radiation of American politics, it’s pretty damned unusual for an incumbent American politician to drop out of a reelection campaign for any reason. A conspiracy crazed creep tried to beat Paul Pelosi to death with a hammer last year, sparking the ugliest possible Republican slanders as well, but former speaker Nancy Pelosi is still running for reelection. And on the Republican side, the biggest Christian Nationalists seem completely incapable of shame, with moral paragons like Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz remaining in office despite scandals that went well beyond rumors.
Nobody but Matt Rosendale knows what’s going on, but we won’t be the least bit surprised if it turns out to be something that’s more stupid and embarrassing than mere mortal peril. Honestly, we’re pulling for stupid and embarrassing. In an age of murderous Trump Age politics, a good old-fashioned egg-on-his-face sex farce might be better for everyone, no?
PREVIOUSLY!
[NBC News / Montana Free Press / Montana Free Press]
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