Democratic North Carolina Senate candidate Cal Cunningham refused to respond to multiple questions about any other possible affairs Friday after a sexting scandal caused him to apologize for an extramarital affair.
During Cunningham’s first news conference since he apologized for the affair, Cunningham never answered the questions about whether he had other affairs and continued to dodge them throughout the press conference.
“I have taken responsibility for the hurt that I’ve caused in my personal life,” Cunningham said after being asked one time. “I apologized to it, I apologized for it. And I know that this campaign — our campaign is about things that are much bigger and more important than just me. It’s about the very issues and people we were just talking to right here.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $3 million dollars Wednesday on ad-buys for Cunningham’s race against Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, Fox News reported. The DSCC’s help came the same day Cunningham addressed the affair, saying he is going to stay focused on the race and work the issue out with his family.
Cunningham reportedly had an in-person affair with California public relations strategist Arlene Guzman Todd. A number of sexual text messages between Cunningham and Todd were revealed in late September, to which Cunningham has since admitted to and apologized for. (RELATED: North Carolina Senate Candidate Cal Cunningham Had In-Person Affair, Texts Reportedly Show)
WATCH:
VIDEO: The 4 questions Cunningham dodged about whether there are other women he’s had affairs with…
Get used to this for the next 25 days, Cal! pic.twitter.com/Kz9pHp55HM
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) October 9, 2020
The two reportedly met in person twice, according to the Associated Press, once in March in Los Angeles that did not result in any intimate contact, and a second time in July in North Carolina, where Guzman Todd said the pair were intimate. (RELATED: DSCC Dumps $3 Million Into Cal Cunningham’s Senate Race Despite Affair, Sexting Scandal)
Tillis responded to the news Thursday, saying in a Thursday interview with Fox News, “I think he needs a fuller explanation, but more important than that… his entire campaign has been premised on the concept that the truth matters, duty and honor. He’s an officer in the army that’s now being investigated. He had an affair with a combat veteran’s wife. His hypocrisy is really what we’re talking about here.”
Cunningham’s campaign said Tuesday that he will stay in the Senate race despite the scandal.