Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen labeled his relationship with a striking blonde, Victoria Brink, a “personal tragedy” in an attempt to set the record straight Monday on “Morning Joe.”
Cohen revealed that his affection for the girl has not waned, despite finding out that he is not her paternal father. “I loved her. I love her now,” he recounted.
He also revealed that Brink sent him a Father’s Day card, acknowledging that while he might not be her paternal father, he is still her father in many ways.
“We had a bond,” Cohen said.
On the show, Cohen appeared incredulous that anyone would suggest that his relationship with the bikini model was less than pure. Speculation by the media and public began after Cohen tweeted “nice to know you were watching SOTU [State of the Union] Happy Valentines beautiful girl. ilu” at Brink in February.
He called allegations of an affair a “total falsehood” and explained that he believed for three-and-a-half years that he was Brink’s father.
Cohen described how he sent the impromptu tweet after being impressed when Victoria tweeted that she had seen him on TV in the State of the Union address. He was impressed because “she is from Texas” and according to Cohen, her interests include Louis Vuitton and other expensive clothes — not government.
But it turns out that he is not Brink’s father, after all. When suspicions were raised about Brink’s parenthood, Cohen agreed to take a paternity test. Cohen believes that he should be left alone to wallow in the test results that he is not, in fact, Brink’s father. “This stuff should be left private,” he lamented.
Instead, he tried to turn attention toward policy matters, citing the need to “cure these problems concerning race.” He promoted his work on legislation that will apologize for Jim Crow laws and slavery, and another policy to allow a “compassionate release” of prisoners.
This is not Cohen’s only tweet that has been called into question. He tweeted Sunday morning: “Told AfricanAmerican towdriver my week- father- DNA test not father reporter/attractive fallout. He (not aware of TN9)says, You’re BLack! Yo.”
He justified the tweet it by saying, “It was funny,” and that he took the tow driver’s comment “as a compliment.”
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