Berrien Withdraws After Following Porn Accounts

Bill Berrien, a Republican businessman and former Navy SEAL, ended his Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign Friday after reports that he followed numerous sexually explicit accounts on Medium, including nonbinary porn performer Jiz Lee. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Berrien unfollowed several accounts after being questioned; Berrien defended the follows as intellectual curiosity, called the coverage “cherry-picked,” and said the revelations made him unable to win the Republican primary. His exit came after calls from prominent Republicans to drop out and leaves U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann as the remaining GOP contenders. Jiz Lee publicly called Berrien a hypocrite, and Democrats suggested the episode reflected intra-GOP tensions tied to his past criticism of Donald Trump and earlier support for Nikki Haley. Berrien said he was stepping down in the best interest of the party, voters, donors and his family and urged an end to targeted personal attacks.