Former Student Calls Out Right-Wing School Board Member Embroiled in Sex Scandal

Though a married couple of prominent Florida Republicans are embroiled in a sex scandal, a young progressive went viral by publicly telling the wife—a school board member—that she shouldn’t be fired for the scandal as some have suggested, but because she’s “terrible” at her job.

The viral moment lasts about 75 seconds and features a former student of Florida’s Sarasota County, who approaches the lectern at a public school board hearing to directly address Bridget Ziegler, a conservative board member whose husband is the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

The unnamed former student excoriated Zieglar after reminding her of their first interaction in which she retweeted a negative article about him. 

“You are a reminder that some people view politics as a service to others while some view it as an opportunity for themselves,” said the student. “On this board, you have spent public funds that could have been used to increase teacher pay to change our district lines for political gain, remove books from schools, target trans and queer children, erase black history, and elevate your political career—all while sending your children to private schools because you don’t believe in the public school system you’ve been leading.”

But then, the student asked a rhetorical question to the audience. “Why doesn’t an elected official using our money to harm our students and our teachers for her gain seem to matter as much to us as her having a threesome does?” 

He addressed Ziegler again. “Bridget Zieglar, you do not deserve to be on the Sarasota County School Board. But you do not deserve to be removed from it for having a threesome. That defeats the lesson we’ve been trying to teach you—which is that a politician’s job is to serve their community, not to police personal lives.”

“So, to be extra clear: Bridget, you deserve to be fired from your job because you are terrible at your job.” said the student, pausing as members of the audience laughed and applauded. “Not because you had sex with a woman.” 

Zieglar’s political and professional turmoil follow the publication of a police search warrant against her husband regarding an alleged rape of a woman with whom he claimed he and his wife had a three-way sexual encounter.

(Video credits)