- Employees asked Rick Todd to leave and he became “aggressive” and “attempted to forcibly pull the sign out of my employees’ hands while yelling at my employees and other witnesses.”
- “I understand that Rick and Mary are carrying a heavy burden of family grief and that they may be angry about their failed House race in 2022,” Zinke said
Rep. Ryan Zinke has called on his primary opponent's “aggressive” husband to apologize after he allegedly hit one of his staffers over the weekend.
According to Zinke's retelling of the scuffle, Mary Todd's husband, Rick, was seen tearing down Zinke campaign signs at the Montana GOP kickoff in Helena, Mont. on Saturday.
Campaign staffers asked Todd to leave, and he became “aggressive” and “attempted to force the sign out of my staff's hands while yelling at my staff and other witnesses,” Zinke said.
“Todd then punched one of my employees, who promptly left the situation with witnesses, while Mr. Todd yelled at event staff and other witnesses who tried to get him to leave.”
Rep. Ryan Zinke has called on his 2022 primary opponent's “aggressive” husband to apologize after he allegedly hit one of his staffers over the weekend
Zinke said Todd then “aggressively” approached his co-workers to apologize and was again asked to leave. Mary Todd then reportedly apologized for her husband, saying his actions were “wrong and shameful.”
Mary Todd accused Zinke of “slanderous lies” in a statement to . She said her husband was upset because Zinke showed an enlarged photo of a check they had given to his campaign at the Republican event.
“Zinke's allegations made on February 12, 2024 are categorically false and defamatory.” After the 2022 congressional primary, my husband Rick and I donated two $1,000 checks to Ryan Zinke's campaign. We also held a fundraiser at our home in his honor.”
“What the Zinke campaign calls “campaign materials” is one of the checks it enlarged and publicly displayed at the GOP winter kickoff in Helena. “My husband was understandably upset, but Zinke resorted to slanderous lies.”
Zinke, meanwhile, said Rick Todd “verbally attacked” Zinke's wife and female staff during the 2022 campaign, when Todd and Zinke also faced off in a primary.
The congressman then brought up the alleged brutal murder of Todd's son in Singapore a decade ago.
Mary Todd accused Zinke of “slanderous lies” in a statement to . She said her husband was upset because Zinke showed an enlarged photo of a check they had given to his campaign at the Republican event
According to Zinke's retelling of the scuffle, Mary Todd's husband, Rick, was seen tearing down Zinke campaign signs at the Montana GOP kickoff in Helena, Mont. on Saturday
“I understand that Rick and Mary bear a heavy burden of family grief and that they may be upset about their failed House election in 2022, in which Mary Todd earned little support despite spending significant personal wealth,” he said.
Todd's son, Shane, was found hanging in his Singapore apartment in June 2012. Singapore police ruled the death a suicide, but Mary Todd insists her son was murdered because he didn't want to pass on high-tech secrets to a Chinese company.
“I have forgiven her campaign’s lies,” Zinke continued. “Despite my core belief that people should be held accountable for their actions and words, I believe this incident can be better resolved with a personal apology and a promise to end all aggressive actions and lies.”
In 2022, Zinke received 41.7 percent of the Republican primary vote, compared to Todd's 10.4 percent. He then won the election for Montana's first district 49.6 percent to 46.5 percent.