Media outlets and social media react to new claims of Mark Sanford affair
Following a claim by Olivia Nuzzi’s ex-fiancé that the 32-year-old had a secret affair with former South Carolina governor and 2020 presidential candidate Mark Sanford, 65, pundits, bloggers and social media influencers have responded.
Claims about the alleged affair surfaced this week when Ryan Lizza, who was formerly engaged to Nuzzi, took to his blog, sharing details about when he found a partially written love letter to Sanford by Nuzzi.
Stanford could not be reached for comment.
A flurry of news articles and opinion pieces followed the accusation, including by The New York Times, News Nation, TheWrap, The Washington Post and several other national outlets.
Comments to Lizza’s blog post, titled “How I Found Out,” were widely supportive of Lizza and critical of Nuzzi.
Others, like Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, took his reaction to the social media platform X, sharing a GIF with “I can’t stop laughing!” overlaying it.
Another commenter on X, who identifies as an influencer, pointed to old thread by Nuzzi, which shows Sanford smiling. Nuzzi’s post attracted the comment, Sanford “looks ... happy?,” to which Nuzzi replied, “I tend to have that effect.”
Blogger and journalist Jack Crosbie of the discourse blog, reacted by saying it’s surprising that Nuzzi hasn’t been expelled from the media industry due to a series of questionable and unethical judgments.
“You’re not supposed to have sex with your sources or subjects,” Crosbie wrote. “You’re not supposed to date them; you’re not even supposed to be their friend.”
In addition to Lizza’s latest allegation, Nuzzi admitted she had an inappropriate relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his 2024 presidential bid, according to the New York Times and several other outlets.
Gossip over the alleged affair even spread to national television, where a panel discussed the claim on CNN’s This Morning with Audie Cornish.
