Cal Cunningham, the Democratic candidate for Senate in North Carolina, has canceled all public appearances since being caught engaging in at least one extramarital affair with a married woman, but there was something he wanted to get off his chest.
In a bizarre video presumably recorded in a "windowless basement," Cunningham lashed out at his Republican opponent, Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C). In his best approximation of Christian Bale's Batman voice, Cunningham suggested Tillis was to blame for his sex scandal.
"Because Thom Tillis knows that he is losing, and knows that we are winning, he has now resorted to trying to make this campaign about something other than the issues," Cunningham said in the video, which reminded some political experts of a hostage tape.
NEW: Cal Cunningham is blaming SENATOR TILLIS for his sexting scandal pic.twitter.com/pZah66zOsm
— Chris Martin (@chrisjdmartin) October 8, 2020
Cunningham's flailing rage might have been in response to the Tillis campaign's latest ad, which highlights the Democrat's past remarks that "here in North Carolina, the truth still matters," and accuses him of hypocrisy.
Chuck Schumer has spent over $80 million trying to paint one picture of Cal Cunningham, but North Carolinians are now realizing it was all one big lie and that Cunningham's candidacy is riddled with hypocrisy.
Watch our new ad here -> pic.twitter.com/JImz4lcgAe
— Thom Tillis (@ThomTillis) October 8, 2020
Cunningham's campaign has been sputtering since late last week, when the Democrat was forced to confirm the authenticity of text messages he exchanged with Arlene Guzman Todd, who recently admitted to having "weird" sexual relations with Cunningham at his family home in North Carolina over the summer.
Guzman Todd's husband, Army veteran Jeremy Todd, has called on Cunningham, an officer in the Army Reserve, to drop out of the race. "Mr. Cunningham chose to repeatedly engage in activities that would hurt his family and a fellow junior officer and veteran," Todd told Raleigh, N.C.'s The News & Observer on Wednesday, the same day the Army Reserve announced an investigation into Cunningham's conduct. "If elected, I can only imagine how misplaced his judgment would be for the people he’s charged to represent."
Beyond a vague apology for "the hurt that I have caused in my personal life," Cunningham has refused to comment further on his philandering escapades. When confronted by a local reporter earlier this week, the candidate repeatedly refused to address the sex scandal. "This campaign is not about my personal life, and I appreciate your question," Cunningham told the reporter. "The campaign is about the people of North Carolina."
WOW the full Cal Cunningham interview is even worse!! pic.twitter.com/2DPYxq8eHq
— Joanna Rodriguez (@joannamrod) October 7, 2020