Jake Cox

Politics | @appstate Alum | Frmr. @AmericaRising, @Team_Mitch, @KYGOP, @RandPaul, @RyanQuarlesKY, @AllisonJoyBall | RT≠Endorsements | Opinions are my own

[Jake Cox @GOPJake]

I have an announcement.

[Lyndsey Fifield @lyndseyfifield]

Thankful for @TheFP actually contacting sources I gave NYT and verifying I did, in fact, have friends who knew about Graham’s abuse/corroborated everything.

I never would’ve spoken out if NYT hadn’t convinced me—but even after their betrayal I’m confident I did the right thing.

[Bridget Phetasy @BridgetPhetasy]

my favorite content of the week is all the European minds, in real time, not being able to comprehend this

[Freddy🇩🇪 @FreddyLA7]

This is the most “The European mind can’t comprehend this” moment of my life. One of my friends said, “Punch me five times tomorrow and I’ll still think this isn’t real.”

[Councilman Anthony Piagentini @CMPiagentini]

Great actor. Have loved his work. Cool person to represent our state on the big screen. Not to mention Ethan Almighty who I have had the incredible honor to meet. Miracle dog.

[Arthur Boreman (yes, that Arthur Boreman) @ArthurBoreman]

Brits in England: “This is the worst world cup ever!”

Germans driving a Mustang through Georgia with the top down to a game: “🎶AND I’M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN, WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW I’M FREE!!!🎶”

[Councilman Anthony Piagentini @CMPiagentini]

The vast majority of suicides in Jefferson County are middle aged men. More people committed suicide last year than we had homicide victims. Men’s health and mental health is a serious issue and anyone making fun of that is demented.

[Timothy Johnson @MiamiCanes1971]

The British being unprepared to perform on American soil has been a tradition since 1776

[Sarah Gallagher @sgallz_]

“This is a pretty hard thing to go through”

…you mean the consequences of your own actions?

[ESPN @espn]

The Louisville Kings are headed to the United Bowl in their first-ever season 👏

Can they capture the UFL title? 👀

[United Football League @TheUFL]

LOUISVILLE IS GOING TO THE UNITED BOWL IN THEIR FIRST SEASON 😱🏆

[ESPN @espn]

The United Bowl matchup is set 🏆

Who's taking the UFL crown this year? 🍿

[Field Rush @thefieldrush]

Go ahead & log off for me

[Fox News @FoxNews]

"F--- you, first of all!"

Rep. Lauren Boebert unleashes against a Fox News Digital reporter after being asked about affair allegations between her and Rep. Thomas Massie, an incumbent critic of President Trump who lost his Kentucky primary race last month.

[CSPAN @cspan]

Ceasefire on Senate leadership

@robportmanOH on Thune: "He's doing great. He's walking the tightrope."

@kyrstensinema on Thune: "I love that man. He is so fantastic."

@DashaBurns: "Do you love Senator Schumer as much as you love Senator Thune?

Sinema: "No. No I don't."

[Senator Rand Paul @SenRandPaul]

Thank you, @POTUS. Always good working with you to put America First.

Looking forward to our next round of golf😉

[John Solomon @jsolomonReports]

Trump cheers Rand Paul for blocking 'poison pill' to stop ICE funding https://t.co/afg32LcK1l

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

Trump “proud of” Rand Paul, another sign that might not turn out like Massie. Paul voted for the reconciliation bill and has been praising the Iran negotiations

[Rand Paul @RandPaul]

Democrats spent years sabotaging every serious attempt to secure our border. They filibustered. They stalled. They held critical DHS funding hostage just to score political points while millions crossed illegally. I refused to let that continue. I took the bill to my committee, bypassed their roadblocks entirely, and led Senate Republicans to overcome their obstruction.

Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are now seeing record-low illegal crossings. I’m proud to help deliver on the president’s promise to secure our border.

[Lyndsey Fifield @lyndseyfifield]

Anyone who has ever extracted themselves from a relationship with a narcissistic abuser knows it isn’t clean or easy.

I cringe remembering how many times I tried to play the “cool girl” or fawn in response to what was clearly abusive, coercively controlling behavior by Graham.

I also know how dangerous it is to become the target of a narcissist — so even long after our relationship ended I continued to be upbeat any time he reached out, though I would also immediately shut down any attempts on his part to initiate flirting or romanticizing of the past.

Yes, the day I saw him announce he was running I wanted to make sure people knew he had a Nazi tattoo — and I was terrified he would find out it was me.

But of course he knew it was me.

What’s ironic is I absolutely never would have shared my story if he hadn’t been relentlessly attacking my character behind the scenes for months once the tattoo story came out.

I tried to signal that I wasn’t the source and stayed completely silent about him on social media even as most of my friends posted regularly about what a bad person he is.

But then in early April the New York Times came to me. I asked how they got my number. I said I was not interested in sharing my story. They said but wait—there are other women. Women terrified to tell their stories, too, and you need to band together. WE will help you. We will protect you. Men can’t keep getting away with this.

Hours before their first call to me I saw Eric Swalwell’s name plate get removed from his office door in Cannon. It felt like fate.

I welcomed the two journalists into my home days later, nervous and overwhelmed. Justin Fairfax had just murdered his wife and himself the previous day and even conservative pundits were conjecturing that “if only those women hadn’t accused him of abuse, this never would have happened…”

But I told them my story. I let them take pictures of my diary pages. I sent them screenshots of messages and gave them phone numbers and contacts. It was excruciating. I was surprised by what details I remembered, and as I poured through old messages I was horrified by how much I had forgotten.

I explained very clearly that, like many women abused by their partners, I had not told anyone about his violence at the time—I had covered for and defended it. I accepted his earnest apologies. They said that’s fine because the diary entries and my on the record story was enough.

They connected me to two of the other victims so we wouldn’t feel so alone. I insisted to each of them that I trusted the NYT journalists and that we were doing the right thing despite their (sadly very accurate) sense that something was wrong.

One of the victims and I realized our relationships with Graham overlapped completely - he had been cheating on both of us the entire time we were together.

I should note here that my life is just… beautiful. These are the best years of my life. Raising two young girls in a safe, beautiful neighborhood where I work from home and shuffle my children from dance classes and soccer to church events — I am blessed far beyond what I deserve with wonderful friends and family and the most loving, brilliant husband in the world. Why would I blow my life up like this? Why would I risk the psychotic doxxing from violent leftist activists?

Because while I have been terrified to come forward I decided this was the “hard right thing” to do. The guilt of staying silent has nagged me.

Most therapists recommend a “gray rock” approach to extracting yourself from narcissistic abuse — it works really well, but it is a gift to the abuser, allowing them to persist in their delusion that they’ve done nothing wrong.

I couldn’t stay silent as he continued to lie and lie and lie. I want my daughters to boldly speak out if they’re ever abused as I was.