Cal Cunningham owes voters 'thorough explanation' after sexting scandal, Sen. Tillis says
All eyes are on North Carolina Senate candidate after he pulled out of a town hall event
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said his Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham owes voters a "full and thorough" explanation after Cunningham admitted to sexting with a woman who is not his wife and asked for "privacy" for his family.
"Cal is trying to finesse it as an errant text, but we now have a second report," Tillis told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday. "Cal owes the people of North Carolina a full explanation. On the debate stage last week, Cal said it's about integrity and I agree. His family should be kept private, he's got teenage children but Cal owes North Carolinians, all of the voters a full and thorough explanation."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He is an officer in the military," Tillis added. "He's also subject to disciplinary action just on the basis of what he's admitted to."
Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, left, and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. talk during a televised debate Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, Pool)
All eyes are on Cunningham after he pulled out of a town hall event on Monday following the publication of his flirty text messages with public relations strategist Arlene Guzman Todd.
Cunningham apologized for the texts on Friday, but his cancellation on Monday came hours after another allegation surfaced on NationalFile.com, the same website that broke the story about his texts with the public relations strategist. The second story is about an allegation brought forth by a woman claiming her friend has been having an affair with Cunningham since 2012.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The second allegation hinges on a claim from Erin Brinkman, who appears to be a Los Angeles-based lawyer who served on Cunningham's state Senate steering committee from 2009 to 2010, according to the LinkedIn profile of a woman with the same name.
“He’s been having an affair with a good friend of mine since 2012. Not the woman mentioned in the story. Needless to say, my friend was devastated. But my feeling is, if they’ll cheat WITH you, they’ll cheat ON you!" reads a screengrab of a Facebook comment written by Erin Brinkman that was published by NationalFile.com on Monday.
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Cunningham has led in polls throughout the summer and raked in a record-setting $28.3 million in donations over the past three months. His campaign did not respond to Fox News' inquiries about the second NationalFile.com story.
Cunningham's campaign Twitter account has not posted since last week.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Megan Henney contributed to this report.