Max Miller Says Mike Johnson Is 'Standing Behind Me'

Rep. Max Miller said House Speaker Mike Johnson is standing behind him in his bid for reelection, in a Tuesday interview on CNN about allegations of abuse by several women, including his ex-wife.

"Speaker Mike Johnson, everyone else, they're standing behind me. No one has told me to get off the ballot, and that's because they know I can win this seat," Miller (R-Ohio) told CNN's Jake Tapper in the 23-minute conversation.

Johnson's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether he supports Miller's reelection campaign.

Miller said he has no plans to drop out of the race before the deadline despite facing growing calls to do so from within his party, including from his former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio). The House Ethics Committee has opened a probe into the allegations against Miller after the congressman requested an investigation on Tuesday, saying he thought it would "clear my name."

When asked if all three women independently lied, Miller said, "Yes, it's very easy."

Miller said his side of the story has been taken out of context in other interviews. He also told Tapper his daughter once said, "I do not want to go to mommy's" and "I do not feel safe" in audio he recorded.

Tapper said the network would not be able to air those recordings, and brought up a police report in which Emily Moreno said their child told her things like, "Daddy kill you," and "Daddy's house is scary."

"I wish you could talk to my beautiful baby girl. She can't string together sentences like that. She's 2½ years old. She doesn't have the ability to articulate any of what you just said," Miller responded, calling the claims an "entire fabrication of the truth."

"You just told me that she had said she was scared to go to mommy's house, but now you're saying that she's not capable of saying, 'Daddy kill you,'" Tapper rebutted. "It seems like she's either able to say one but not the other — that doesn't make sense."

Miller said that like President Donald Trump — who was reelected despite facing "the most extreme allegations in the world" — he too could win his Ohio reelection campaign in November.

"For no second am I going to sit here and continue to be debased by false and baseless allegations and be pushed out of a seat I have worked so hard to represent and done a terrific job for our community," Miller said.