Olivia Nuzzi’s Ex Makes Startling Allegation of an Affair with a 2020 Presidential Candidate
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Former Politico reporter, Ryan Lizza, has come forward with explosive claims suggesting that his ex-fiancée, journalist Olivia Nuzzi, engaged in a physical relationship with South Carolina politician Mark Sanford. The alleged affair is said to have taken place years prior to Nuzzi being embroiled in a sexting scandal with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Lizza shared these shocking revelations in a post on his newsletter, Telos News, on November 17.

Lizza’s post detailed how he stumbled upon evidence of Nuzzi’s alleged affair with Sanford, whom she had previously profiled while working for New York Magazine. At the time, Sanford was challenging Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2020. The discovery reportedly came in the form of an unfinished love letter from Nuzzi to Sanford, indicating a romantic entanglement between the two despite Sanford being 32 years older than Nuzzi.
The former journalist further elaborated on the contents of the letter, confirming a physical relationship between Nuzzi and Sanford, as well as suggesting a potential fallout between them. Lizza expressed profound devastation upon uncovering the betrayal, describing the situation as immensely damaging on personal and professional levels for both parties involved.
According to Lizza, Nuzzi admitted to being infatuated with Sanford and engaged in sending increasingly provocative pictures and messages to him, harbouring fantasies of a secret meeting. Lizza recounts Nuzzi going silent while claiming to deal with a family emergency, which he later discovered was a cover for her rendezvous with Sanford at his residence in South Carolina.
Representatives for Sanford, Nuzzi, and Lizza have yet to provide official comments or responses regarding these allegations. The tumultuous affair is said to have taken place while Nuzzi and Lizza were collaborating on a book centred around the 2020 presidential election. However, following the revelations, the publisher decided to halt the project, signalling an abrupt end to their professional partnership.
For Lizza, the discovery of Nuzzi’s affair signified a breach of journalistic ethics and an insurmountable obstacle to continuing their joint project. The scandal cast a dark shadow over their working relationship, prompting Lizza to question the viability of producing a book on the presidential campaign under such compromising circumstances.
Sanford’s political history includes a failed bid to vie for the Republican presidential nomination in 2019, where he eventually withdrew his candidacy after just two months. Notably, Sanford made headlines in 2009 for a separate extramarital affair that led to his confession of romantic involvement with a woman from Argentina. This recent revelation adds a new layer of complexity to Sanford’s controversial past.
Nuzzi’s rocky professional trajectory, marked by scandal and controversy, raises questions about ethical conduct within the media industry. The intricate web of personal relationships and political entanglements underscores the challenges faced by journalists navigating the volatile landscape of political reporting. As the story continues to unravel, the implications of this affair on journalistic integrity and personal accountability remain at the forefront of public discourse.
By shedding light on this tumultuous chapter in Nuzzi’s career, Lizza has sparked a conversation about the intersection of personal relationships and professional responsibilities in the realm of political journalism. The repercussions of such revelations resonate far beyond the individuals involved, prompting a broader reflection on the ethical boundaries that govern the conduct of journalists and public figures alike.
