Liz Cheney Challenger Anthony Bouchard on Impregnating 14-Year-Old at 18: ‘Like Romeo & Juliet’

Congressional candidate Anthony Bouchard has confessed to impregnating a 14-year-old girl when he was 18, saying it was “like the Romeo and Juliet story.”

Bouchard, who is challenging GOP Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming for her seat, admitted to the relationship during a Facebook Live video on Thursday and later disclosed the girl’s age to the Casper Star-Tribune.

Bouchard said he went public with the information to get ahead of the story after he learned people were investigating the relationship as part of the opposition to his candidacy. He said he does not believe Cheney was involved in trying to publicize the story.

“So, bottom line, it’s a story when I was young, two teenagers, girl gets pregnant,” Bouchard said in the video. “You’ve heard those stories before. She was a little younger than me, so it’s like the Romeo and Juliet story.”

He told the Star-Tribune that under the law in Florida, where they both lived at the time, he was able to marry the girl when she was 15 and he was 19. They got divorced about three years later.

“A lot of pressure. Pressure to abort a baby. I got to tell you, I wasn’t going to do it and neither was she,” Bouchard said. “And there was pressure to have her banished from their family. Just pressure. Pressure to go hide somewhere. And the only thing I could see as the right thing to do was to get married and take care of him.”

He said that he continued to try raising their child after his ex-wife killed herself when she was 20. Since then, Bouchard said, he has almost become “estranged” from his son.

“Sadly, he’s made some wrong choices in his life,” Bouchard said. “He’s almost become my estranged son. Some of the things that he’s got going on his life, I certainly don’t approve of them. But I’m not going to abandon him. I still love him. Just like when he was born.”

Wyoming state Senator Anthony Bouchard speaks to supporters after a rally against U.S. Representative Liz Cheney on January 28. Michael Ciaglo/Stringer

The Wyoming state senator rose to prominence after announcing he would challenge Cheney in the 2022 Republican primary. The congresswoman drew criticism from Republicans after she voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump in January.

“A conservative state like Wyoming—which gave Donald Trump the nation’s largest percentage of the vote both times—should be electing one of the most conservative members of Congress,” Bouchard said on his campaign site.

He encouraged his supporters to share the 13-minute video describing his previous marriage, saying he wanted “everyone to know.”

“Bring it on. I’m going to stay in this race,” Bouchard told the Star-Tribune. “We’re going to continue to raise money, because my record stands on its own.”

While Bouchard was the first person to announce a challenge to Cheney, he has since been joined by seven others, including state Representative Chuck Gray, former Pavillion Mayor Marissa Joy Selvig and retired Army colonel Denton Knapp.

Trump has yet to endorse an opponent to Cheney but is expected to do so soon.