Republican Ditches Race After Shocking Scandal

Wisconsin’s Republican Party has lost its latest gubernatorial contender in a scandal that mixes politics, porn, and hypocrisy.

Bill Berrien, a former Navy SEAL who pitched himself as a hard-line conservative alternative in Trump’s America, abruptly ended his campaign after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed his apparent enthusiasm for adult content creators online.

The report showed Berrien’s Medium account followed several sex-positive writers, including queer porn star Jiz Lee, who identifies with they/them pronouns.

“After discussions with my family, donors, and party leadership, I have decided to end my campaign,” Berrien said in a statement late Friday. “It is in the best interest of the party, voters, donors, and my family.”

He added, in what many saw as a bizarre aside, “I had no idea that running for political office could be almost as dangerous as hunting down war criminals in Bosnia.”

Echoes of Past Republican Scandals

The withdrawal comes as the Republican Party struggles with repeated embarrassments tied to its candidates’ private lives.

Just last year, North Carolina’s former GOP lieutenant governor Mark Robinson was forced out of national politics after revelations he frequented transgender porn sites, called himself a “Black Nazi,” and suggested slavery should be “brought back.”

“These scandals cut at the heart of the GOP’s culture-war strategy,” explained University of Wisconsin political science professor Dana Holmes. “Republicans like Berrien campaign as guardians of morality under Trump, but voters keep finding skeletons in their closets.”

Fallout in Trump’s America

With President Donald Trump back in the White House and leaning heavily on Republican governors to enforce conservative policies in the states, Berrien’s exit could weaken the GOP’s bench in Wisconsin—a swing state Trump desperately needs in 2028.

Democrats wasted no time seizing on the fallout. “This is yet another example of Republicans preaching one thing and practicing another,” said state party chair Ben Wikler. “Voters deserve leaders who are honest, not hypocrites caught following porn stars online.”

For now, Berrien’s political career is over. But the controversy has left Wisconsin Republicans scrambling to fill a vacancy—and to explain, once again, why their party’s supposed moral warriors keep getting undone by their own private desires.