Despite insisting that he and his family have “moved on” from the whole Catholic school boy sexting scandal, “not gay” Republican Mike Yenni’s constituents have not.
In case you need a recap: Yenni is the Parish President of Jefferson Parish in Louisiana. Last September, he was outed for sexting with a Catholic school boy he allegedly met at a graduation luncheon in 2015. (Yenni was 38 at the time; the boy was 17.) The two exchanged a series of dirty text messages before meeting up in a mall bathroom where Yenni allegedly gave the boy a pair of $75 designer underwear. Since the scandal broke, Yenni has admitted to sending “inappropriate texts” and apologized for his actions but he has refused to step down from office.
Related: Mike Yenni And Wife Are “Moving On” From Gay Teen Sext Scandal So You Should Too
Well, during a 50-minute appearance on a midday radio show yesterday, the 40-year-old father of two was bombarded with questions from angry callers who wanted to know more about the whole sexting scandal.
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Yenni sat down with Eric Asher at WGSO-AM’s “Inside New Orleans” hoping to discuss the upcoming Mardi Gras season, but Asher had a different agenda. He wanted to know about the $75 underwear.
“Eric, I’m not going to get into that,” Yenni politely replied. “I’m not going to get into the details.”
Asher then pivoted by telling Yenni he was missing an opportunity to put the scandal to rest by refusing talk about it. Then he accused the Republican lawmaker of being a hypocrite for running a “campaign on family values” while keeping such a dirty little secret.
Related: Mike Yenni’s Teen Accuser Comes Forward About Sext Scandal, Sticks By Story
“I didn’t campaign on family values, Eric,” Yenni was quick to respond, “because, you know, I come from a broken home.”
“People ask the question, ‘How can you be a good family man at the same time if you’re involved in that type of behavior?’” Asher pushed back.
“Eric, all I can tell you is people make mistakes,” Yenni replied. “I’ve asked God for forgiveness; I believe God is a merciful God.”
And then things got really awkward. Because Asher opened up questions from unscreened callers. They, like him, really wanted to know about the $75 underwear.
“He might have moved on, and his wife might have moved on, but the taxpaying people who vote haven’t moved on,” one caller said. “I want to know, did you buy the young man designer underwear and give it to him in a mall?! Yes or no?”
When Yenni repeated that he wasn’t going to get into specifics, the caller said, “I pay your salary!” To which Yenni replied, “That has nothing to do with my salary.”
Related: Did Catholic School Where Mike Yenni Met Teen Boyfriend Know About His Lust For Underagers?
Another caller said he didn’t like how Yenni called the teen a liar. “I’m not calling anybody anything,” Yenni quipped.
Yenni also refused to answer questions about a series of sexts he allegedly exchanged with eight different men and one women on a government-issued cellphone over a three-week period in 2009 and 2010. In the texts, Yenni writes about specific sex acts with some of the men, including one in which he discusses having sexual relations in his office.
“I’m not commenting on that because I don’t believe anything that was in those text messages,” Yenni said. “I’ve been shown some of those, just recently. I didn’t even recognize some of the numbers that they came from so I’m not even going to comment anymore on those.”
It was a rough 50 minutes for Mr. Yenni, but at least it ended on a slightly positive note. The final caller was a woman named Noki who phoned in to say that if Yenni’s wife could forgive him, so should other Christians.
“I am proud to say today that I would stand next to you and your wife, and that’s the reason: Your wife stands next to you,” Noki said.
Related: Internet Responds In All Sorts Of Ways To Married Conservative Mike Yenni’s Boy Trouble
h/t: New Orleans Advocate
1EqualityUSA
Lupron.
ChrisK
The last caller doesn’t matter. He lied about it and continues to. The end is near for him.
dwes09
Curious about what Yenni’s stance is on LGBT issues. Other than the ethics of unconsummated adultery, he did nothing wrong. The kid was above the age of consent.
It looks to me like the callers and the interviewer wanted to be titillated and have their self-rightous sense of outrage stoked. Were he to have done this with a young woman they would likely cut him more slack. Not all republicans and not all Christians are anti-gay; so if he was not our concern should not be to snicker at his humiliation but to note the difficulties that still exist all over the country for people who cannot express their authentic affectional preferences. If he WAS antigay in his professional life than F#@k him!
captainburrito
There’s also the sexting on a government issued cellphone if that is true.
fur_hunter
Well…..If this doesn’t sound like the Bishop Eddie Long scandal, in 2010 in Conyers, Georgia, just east of Atlanta. Yeah. Eddie was the minister at this megachurch in Conyers, with several thousand parishioners. He was always condemning the gay community from the pulpit. Well….Two young gay guys came out to the news media showing muscle posed pictures that dear Eddie had sent them. Eddie, then had the audacity to say he was not gay. You should have heard his denials when interviewed. I lived in Atlanta at the time and remember it well. It was a perfect example of the old Shakespearean line from Hamlet. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Dear Eddie dropped dead the other day from cancer. Maybe he is now in that Hell he kept telling gay people they were going to.
david_dumonde
Audio available here: http://wgso.com/podcast/inside-new-orleans-jan-23rd-2017/
david_dumonde
Interview begins about 1:06:00