While many a politician has been accused of lying to the point of their pants being on fire, this particular official apparently wasn’t wearing any pants at all.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the town of Mooresville, North Carolina, has been in turmoil over video from 2024 that purports to show its mayor, Chris Carney, standing in town hall early in the morning without wearing any pants, all while accompanied by a female journalist.
A judge has recently ordered that the video be released to the public, though the town has filed an appeal. Meanwhile, Mooresville officials are facing lawsuits filed by three former town employees who say they lost their jobs for attempting to preserve the footage, while the town board has filed a vote of no confidence.
Carney, meanwhile, has apologized for the incident, though maintains he did nothing wrong. As he tells it, he had made the trip to town hall after sharing a drink with the journalist, who he says is a friend. As a result of a reaction to the alcohol and medication that he took, Carney says he became “violently ill” and began to throw up.
It was at this point, Carney says, that he took his pants off in an effort to clean up the vomit. He says that the journalist stayed with him purely to make sure he was OK.
However, one of the former town employees, Christopher Lee, alleges that the footage “is inconsistent with the Mayor’s public explanation,” and “instead depicts nudity and sexual arousal.”
Some residents, such as Michelle Collins, also aren’t buying Carney’s story.
“I don’t think most people believe that, considering you had your pants down and there was somebody else with you,” Collins says.