Second, the charge that made the whole thing surface — an allegation of rape filed with Sarasota police — is both white hot and, as we shall see, suspect.

Finally, despite the titillating details, this was, at the outset, an intensely Florida story. Who north of the Okefenokee Swamp gives a rip about a sexual scandal involving a pair of Sunshine State Republican activists? (Besides Daily Kos, Mother Jones and MSNBC crank Joy Reid, who believe they have caught the stench of hypocrisy.)

For the record, Bridget is an elected member of the Sarasota County School Board, a founding member of Moms for Liberty, and, until a day or so ago, a high-ranking member of the conservative Leadership Institute. Christian is chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

The pair got themselves ensnared in a scandal a couple of weeks ago when news broke that, in October, Christian was accused of rape by the third member of what apparently almost had been a consenting and potentially blissful throuple.

Ewwww, yes, but here’s a sidebar for the pouncers on the media left. This isn’t hard, and it’s pretty much what DeSantis, Matt Walsh, Christopher Rufo, Moms for Liberty, and other social conservatives have been saying for a while: The intimacies of grown folks are and shall remain their business. However, government has a responsibility to stand between youngsters and those who would shock them from their innocence.

So, the Zieglers want to get busy with a longtime friend and keep it their little secret? Creepy but, OK, fine. The Zieglers want to get busy with a longtime friend and also invite the neighborhood kids to observe? That’s creepy and unacceptable.

Digression concluded.

Christian denies the allegation, and apparently — we are not making this up — has the smartphone video to disprove the accuser’s story (ickier and ickier). How this lizard charmed his way to the top of the RPOF has to be a story for the ages.

Nonetheless, even as Christian was claiming his partner in infidelity endorsed the activity, top Florida Republicans were 99.9% united in righteous indignation. Calls for his resignation flooded down from Gov. Ron DeSantis (seeker of the GOP nomination for president) through the chiefs of the county Republican executive committees.

It seemed every prominent Florida Republican (save one) was demanding to see the backside of Christian Ziegler.

But that one holdout is why this latest twist in Florida’s endless soap opera is at last worth the valuable attention of the worldwide HotAir audience.

Donald Trump, who typically has plenty to say about everything, has on the topic of Christian Ziegler, been as mute as the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come. For the beleaguered RPOF chairman, Trump’s sepulchral silence has triggered a Scrooge-like epiphany. The specter’s bony hand points not to a snowy grave, but to certain detractors’ duplicity.

It’s exquisite, really. Christian takes Trump’s silence as support and gamely uses it to parry those calling for his resignation. From Marc Caputo in TheMessenger today: 

In Southwest Florida, Lee County GOP Chair Michael Thompson told The Messenger he had a heated conversation with Ziegler when he told him to step aside last week. Thompson said he was irritated when Ziegler referenced Trump’s sex assault case, which bothers Trump’s team as well.

“Oh, you’re a big Trump guy. But it’s ok for Trump? You don’t call on him to resign but you want me to step down?” Ziegler said, according to Thompson, a member of the state executive committee.

It’s a slimy retort, but an effective one, and it’s one Trump supporters will have to tangle with all over again if the polls for the GOP presidential nomination prove correct.

Because loyalty — fealty, actually — is the quality Trump reveres above all others, support for his political ambitions ensnares supporters in a creepy vortex of amorality. This guy is your political saint? Really?

It’s not whataboutism to hold Trump’s sordid antics up to anyone who claims to value fidelity, loyalty, discretion, honesty, modesty, honor, dignity and decency (we could go on), especially since those are some of the core, and noble, qualities upon which America was made great in the first place, and that conservatives revere in their elected leaders.

Caputo’s contacts in Trump World see it differently.

Trump advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity say he doesn’t like denouncing fellow Republicans based solely on accusations, and he doesn’t want to weigh in here because he doesn’t have any appointees on the state party board, unlike all the other statewide elected officials. In addition to running for president, Trump is facing four separate and unrelated criminal cases along with the Carroll defamation suit and another civil suit to wipe out his Trump Organization family business in New York.

“Trump’s a little busy,” deadpanned one Trump confidant. “And he doesn’t like to join the mob with stuff like this, and frankly he values people who stand their ground like Ziegler is.”

There you go, MAGA. Welcome to that spot between a rock and a hard place. Enjoy your stay.