Dem senator ripped for 'smear' of female activist advocating for Swalwell's accusers: 'Very bad look'
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is facing heat for attempting to discredit a user on X who said sexual misconduct allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who is running for governor, will end up "kick[ing] his a--."
Gallego, who has been friends with Swalwell for many years, also defended Swalwell for being "targeted" in a separate post on social media, arguing he is the subject of sexual misconduct allegations because he is "in first place."
Swalwell has fiercely denied the allegations being elevated on social media by Democratically-aligned politicos, including Cheyenne Hunt, a former Capitol Hill staffer who is currently a nonprofit director at the group Gen-Z for Change, and Arielle Fodor, a "political content creator," teacher and mother who dubs herself "Mrs. Frazzled" online.
"This false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race," Micah Beasley, a spokesperson for Swalwell, said on Tuesday.
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"Yeah I’m gonna be so real with you…Swalwell is a wrap. I’ve seen what I needed to see," Fodor wrote on X under her "Mrs. Frazzled" pseudonym. "He isn’t going to sue ANYBODY over talking about this because discovery would kick his a--. Why this man ran for governor is BEYOND ME."
In direct response, replying to an X post quoting her comment, Gallego shot back: "This person started to posting for the first time 3 days ago…"
Gallego's post came in the early hours of the morning Tuesday, and was subsequently followed up with another post defending Swalwell: "When you are in first place, is when they target you," Gallego said in the second tweet several hours later. "Eric is a fighter and he will win the Governors race."
"WHOA this is a very very bad look by Gallego. There is no reason for him to proactively smear Dem women and advocates when 1) he should just wait for the reporting to come out, and 2) the race isn’t even in AZ," Democratic campaign strategist Bhavik Lathia said in a reply to Gallego's initial remark.
"Hey, I just got off the phone with a trusted friend. This is real. Take it seriously. Eric Swallwell cannot be our nominee. There is going to be a lot more coming out soon. I can’t say more right now, but stay tuned," Lathia wrote in a separate X post earlier this week.
When reached for comment, Gallego and Swalwell did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment, which included questions about whether they wanted to respond to critics who have suggested Gallego is trying to discredit women raising the allegations, as opposed to speaking to them directly.
Gallego and Swalwell have been House colleagues and friends dating back at least a decade, and were paling around in Qatar in 2021 during a now-infamous Qatari Business Council-funded trip to the Middle East nation. They were infamously pictured taking a camel excursion along the Persian Gulf together with their spouses during the trip, which included a stay at a luxury Four Seasons hotel in Qatar and other activities and meetings.
Gallego also served as the national campaign chair of Swalwell's failed presidential campaign in 2019. A press release announcing Gallego as the campaign chair quoted Swalwell saying, "As two young dads, we babysit for each other's kids, and share ideas on how to make child care and health care more affordable. Ruben is a dear friend, and I'm honored to have his support in this campaign," referring to Gallego.
"'Believe all women until it's politically inconvenient,'" conservative political strategist Alec Sears also said in response to Gallego.
"Ah yes the recency of someone's social media posts are definitely indicative of whether something's true or false," added Curtis Houck, who is the managing editor at the Media Research Center's Newsbusters.
A Substack website tied to Fodor, aka Mrs. Frazzled, says she has an entire subscriber base and runs a newsletter called "Frazzled About Education."
"If I were you, I’d be more worried about my own skeletons instead of trying to discredit women. And the for the record, Mrs. Frazzled has a storied internet platform, and dedication to amplifying Democratic organizations such as Defense of Democracy. You could’ve googled her," Democrat political strategist, Simone Kathleen Rossi, said in response to Gallego's post about how Fodor cannot be trusted.
"In 13 years, no one in Eric Swalwell’s Congressional office has ever been asked to sign an NDA. Ever. In 13 years, not a single ethics complaint by any staff in his office or any other office has ever been lodged. Ever," Beasley told media outlets Tuesday.