Back in 2009, then-South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) made headlines when he disappeared without a trace for several days. After his staff claimed he had been hiking the Appalachian trail, it turned out he was in fact in Buenos Aires having an affair with an Argentine woman named María Belén Chapur. (He's since gotten divorced, engaged to Ms. Chapur, then broke off the engagement, but was still seeing her as of December 2017.)
Now Sanford — who is at the moment a South Carolina congressman — is one of the first sitting Republicans to criticize President Trump over the Stormy Daniels story. Trump allegedly arranged to pay hush money in October 2016 to the adult film actress, in order to keep secret an affair they had in 2006, mere months after Melania Trump had given birth. "[W]hat we can't do in the body politic is be purely tribal in our thinking," Sanford argues.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayorIn The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all timeThe Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material
-
'More must be done'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
EPA is reportedly killing Energy Star programspeed read The program for energy-efficient home appliances has saved consumers billions in energy costs since its 1992 launch
-
US proposes eroding species protectionsSpeed Read The Trump administration wants to change the definition of 'harm' in the Environmental Protection Act to allow habitat damage
-
Severe storms kill dozens across central USSpeed Read At least 40 people were killed over the weekend by tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms
-
Rain helps Los Angeles wildfires, risks mudslidesSpeed Read The weather provided relief for crews working to contain wildfires, though rain over a burn area ups the chances of flooding and mudslides
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progressSpeed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spreadSpeed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panicSpeed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cycloneSpeed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean
