The husband of the woman who was caught kissing Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.) in a video that surfaced Monday says the congressman has destroyed his life and marriage.
“I’m just freaking devastated by the whole deal, man. I loved my wife so much. I cannot believe this. I cannot freaking believe it. I feel like I’m going to wake up here in a minute, and this is all going to be a bad nightmare,” Heath Peacock told CNN on Tuesday.
Peacock told CNN he wasn’t aware of what happened until his wife, Melissa Peacock, 33, called him a few hours before the news broke.
{mosads}“He has wrecked my life,” Peacock said of McAllister on CNN. “We’re headed for divorce.”
The couple has been married for six years, and they have a 6-year-old son.
“It was just a kiss; that was all it was, but it embarrassed me and my family,” Peacock said. “This guy has turned my life upside down.”
His wife was seen kissing McAllister in surveillance footage that went viral on Monday. The Ouachita Citizen said it obtained the video clip from an anonymous source. It was recorded on Dec. 23, a month after McAllister was sworn into office.
Melissa Peacock was the congressman’s district scheduler, and was taken off payroll as of Monday night.
McAllister, meanwhile, says he doesn’t plan to resign and has asked God, his family and his constituents for forgiveness.
The congressman said he told his wife of 16 years about the encounter earlier this year, and they are working through it.
McAllister was elected to replace Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) in a special election last fall. He ran ads touting his Christian faith, but Peacock told CNN he believed that was just a ploy for votes.
“I know his beliefs. When he ran one of his commercials, he said ‘I need your prayers,’ and I asked, ‘When did you get religious?’ He said, ‘When I needed votes,’ ” Peacock said. “He broke out the religious card, and he’s about the most nonreligious person I know.”