Rep. Ryan Zinke says his former primary opponent’s ‘aggressive’ husband punched a member of his staff at a campaign event: Republican rips into Mary Todd and demands personal apology
- The staff asked Rick Todd to leave and he “became aggressive” and “attempted to forcefully pull the sign out of my staff’s hands while yelling at my staff and other witnesses.”
- “I understand that Rick and Mary are carrying a heavy burden of family grief and may be angry about their failed 2022 House race,” Zinke said
Rep. Ryan Zinke has demanded that the “aggressive” husband of his 2022 primary opponent apologize after allegedly punching a member of his staff over the weekend.
According to Zinke’s retelling of the scuffle, Mary Todd’s husband Rick was seen taking down Zinke campaign signs at the Montana GOP kickoff in Helena, Mont. on Saturday.
Campaign staff asked Todd to leave and he “became aggressive” and “attempted to forcefully pull the sign out of my staff’s hands while yelling at my staff and other witnesses,” Zinke said.
“Todd then punched a member of my staff, who promptly left the situation with witnesses as Mr. Todd yelled at event staff and other witnesses who tried to get him to walk away.”
Rep. Ryan Zinke has demanded that the “aggressive” husband of his 2022 primary opponent apologize after allegedly punching a member of his staff over the weekend
Zinke said Todd then “aggressively” approached his staff to apologize and was again asked to leave. Mary Todd subsequently apologized for her husband, saying his actions were “wrong and shameful.”
Zinke said that during the 2022 campaign, when Todd and Zinke also faced off in a primary, Rick Todd “verbally accosted” Zinke’s wife and female staff.
Zinke then brought up the alleged brutal murder of Todd’s son in Singapore a decade ago.
According to Zinke’s retelling of the scuffle, Mary Todd’s husband Rick was seen taking down Zinke campaign signs at the Montana GOP kickoff in Helena, Mont. on Saturday
“I understand that Rick and Mary are carrying a heavy burden of family grief and may be angry over their failed 2022 House race, where Mary Todd earned little support despite spending significant personal wealth,” he said.
Todd’s son, Shane, was found hanging in his Singapore apartment in June 2012. Singapore police ruled the death a suicide, but Mary Todd insists her son was murdered because he did not want to hand over high-tech secrets to a Chinese company.
“I have forgiven her campaign’s lies,” Zinke continued. “Despite my core belief that people are held accountable for their actions and words, I believe this episode would be better resolved with a personal apology and a vow to end all aggressive actions and lies.”
In 2022, Zinke won 41.7 percent of Republican primary votes, compared to Todd’s 10.4 percent. He then won the election for Montana’s first district by 49.6 to 46.5 percent.