[Update 5-21-21: I corrected the headline and story. Trump has not yet announced which candidate he wants to run against Liz Cheney — Mark]
A Trump-supporting Wyoming State Sen. Anthony Bouchard (Q) who intends to run against Liz Cheney in the U.S. House of Representatives told the Casper Star-Tribune today that he "impregnated" a 14-year-old girl when he was 18. (The age of consent in Wyoming is 16 for girls.)
In a Facebook Live video, Bouchard expressed disappointment in people who didn't see the romance of what could be statutory rape (if the age of consent law was the same when Bouchard "impregnated" the girl.) "It's amazing that they look at things so negatively. So, bottom line, is it's a story when I was young, two teenagers, girl gets pregnant. You've heard those stories before. She was a little younger than me, so it's like the Romeo and Juliet story."
Bouchard added "there lot of pressure. Pressure to abort a baby. I got to tell you, I wasn't going to do it and neither was she. And there was pressure to have her banished from their family. Just pressure. Pressure to go hide somewhere."
Bouchard married the girl when she was 15. But divovered her three years later. She died by suicide.
Comments on his Facebook video are mixed, but mostly positive:
- "As if I needed anything else to make me like Anthony Bouchard any more than I do. Go Anthony Go!"
- "Donating again NOW. Sick of these dirty tactics."
- "You did the right thing !! You have my vote ! Thank you for standing up against the dirty swamp !! God bless you and your family! None of us are without mistakes !!"
- "Thank you for your pro life choice at an early age. We all have things that have happened in the past. You have my vote! We will be able to count on you to stand for Wyoming!"
- "So you raped a 14 year old girl, forced her into marriage as a child then she killed herself. #familyvalues"
[via The Hill]