Liz Cheney's primary challenger describes impregnating 14-year-old girl at 18 as 'like the Romeo and Juliet story'
In what he called a "Romeo and Juliet story," U.S. House candidate and Wyoming state Senator Anthony Bouchard revealed late Thursday he had a "relationship with and impregnated a 14-year-old girl when he was 18," reports The Casper Star-Tribune on Friday.
Bouchard broke the news himself in a Facebook Live on Thursday, attempting to get "ahead of the story after learning that people were investigating it in opposition to his candidacy," writes the Star-Tribune. The senator is in the midst of challenging Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for her seat in the House, but says he does not believe Cheney's team was involved in digging up the story, the Star-Tribune reports.
"Two teenagers, girl gets pregnant," says Bouchard in the Facebook Live video. "You've heard those stories before. She was a little younger than me, so it's like the Romeo and Juliet story." Bouchard did not reveal the girl's age in the Facebook Live video, the Hill reports.
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Bouchard says the two married in Florida when he was 19 and she was 15, and divorced three years later. At age 20, the unnamed ex-wife committed suicide, reports the Star-Tribune. "She had problems in another relationship," Bouchard added in his video. "Her dad committed suicide."
Bouchard's plans to run for office remain seemingly unaffected: "Bring it on. I'm going to stay in this race," he said to the Star-Tribune. After announcing his candidacy in January, Bouchard reported raising over $300,000 in the first quarter of the year.
More at The Casper Star-Tribune.
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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
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