6 Politicians With A Strange Past Of Age-Gap Relationships (And Affairs)

Times change, but apparently politicians don't. Pretty much every passing decade has witnessed a prominent representative with a much younger wife and/or a high-profile cheating scandal. We wanted to better understand what goes through a politician's mind when engaging in such controversial behaviors, so The List tapped into the expertise of Dr. Sanam Hafeez, NYC neuropsychologist and the director of Comprehend the Mind. "When someone has power, they may feel a heightened sense of confidence and control over their environment," she professed. "This can make them more drawn to relationships where they feel they can exert influence or guidance, which is why some powerful individuals are attracted to younger partners." 

Additionally, being seen with a younger partner often bodes well for male politicians' public image, making them out to be more lively and successful. Ultimately, Dr. Hafeez reckons that their reasons for seeking out younger partners predominantly revolve around "power, admiration, and self-esteem." When we asked why a public representative would choose to have an affair and ignore the negative publicity it inevitably brings with it, she confirmed that it went beyond an unhappy marriage, noting that affairs could be a way for politicians to get an an ego boost and a break from their high-pressure lives.

Likewise, the neuropsychologist pointed out that their stressful careers can also drive a wedge between the man in question and their spouse, leaving them with no choice but to fulfill their romantic needs elsewhere. Dr. Hafeez's expertise has made it far easier to understand the psyche of the many politicians who confidently embarked upon age-gap relationships and scandalous affairs over the years.

In September 2024, New York Magazine spectacularly disclosed that one of their own most acclaimed and prolific political writers, Olivia Nuzzi, had been put on leave after informing them about a "personal relationship" with someone who was once involved in the 2024 presidential race. Of course, it didn't take too long for people to put two and two together and realize that Nuzzi supposedly had an affair with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has notably been married to Cheryl Hines since 2014. To make matters even controversial, the political journalist was nearly 40 years younger than RFK Jr. and engaged to Ryan Lizza at the time. 

Shortly after news of their alleged affair broke, New York Magazine editor David Haskell sent an internal memo updating staff on the developing situation. Without mentioning RFK Jr. by name, he confirmed that Nuzzi's alleged dalliance with the controversial politician had started in December 2023 and ended in August of the following year. According to the New York Times, Nuzzi released a statement to concede: "Some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal." 

However, she also maintained, "The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict." In addition to stirring up controversy, RFK Jr. and Nuzzi's rumored affair also led to some major legal drama. In court documents filed by the reporter's former fiancé in October 2024, Lizza claimed that she had told him that the politician sought to "'possess,' 'control,' and 'impregnate' her," as the New York Post reported at the time. However, Nuzzi ultimately acknowledged that their romance was inherently toxic because of the distorted power dynamics.

Donald and Melania Trump have a bigger age gap than we thought since the president is a massive 24 years older than the first lady. During a 2016 chat with Harper's Bazaar, Melania revealed that her path crossed with her future husband's when she was a 28-year-old attending a Fashion Week party. At the time, Donald was a 52-year-old father-of-four dealing with a very public separation from his second wife, Marla Maples. Although the divisive politician was actually on a date when he first laid eyes on Melania, he didn't let that stop him and still asked for her number. "I was struck by his energy," the former model confessed of her first impression of Donald. "He has an amazing sense of vitality." 

Of course, the general public didn't quite see it the same way and labeled Melania a gold-digger for dating the businessman. In a 1999 ABC News interview, she noted that it made a certain amount of sense for people to see her that way because it was rare for a man with a normal profession to have a significantly younger partner. Although Melania acknowledged that she lived an insanely lavish life, she insisted it was still a love match. 

Elsewhere, Maples was 17 years his junior. The former "Apprentice" host also had alleged dalliances with adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who is 33 years younger than him, and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who is 25 years Donald's junior. His penchant for younger women may have signaled the future president's political intentions, since Dr. Sanam Hafeez exclusively told us, "The youthfulness or attractiveness of a partner can serve as a symbol of success, which politicians who want to project power find advantageous." 

Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton had one of the most scandalous age-gap affairs in U.S. history. Just a few months after then-21-year-old Lewinsky started working as an intern at The White House, in 1995, she embarked on an affair with then-49-year-old Bill, who was of course married to Hillary Clinton (and still is, to this day). During an interview with the Washington Post, in 1998, the former White House intern confirmed that their romance lasted about 18 months and ended in 1997. 

Lewinsky recalled how the then-president called her over to The White House in the spring of 1997 to inform her they had to part ways because he strived to fully commit to Hillary after cheating on her countless times early on in their marriage. Lewinsky took the news hard because she had fallen head over heels for Bill by then. In the aftermath, she even tried to get the politician back by writing him a letter which read: "Please do not do this to me. I feel disposable, used and insignificant."

On the other end, Hillary was understandably reeling from the scandal. However, against all odds, she ultimately decided to stick with her husband. In a 2020 chat with the Sydney Morning Herald, the former first lady confessed that her love for Bill had been the deciding factor in her decision to stay. "But obviously it took an enormous amount of thought and counseling and talking to my friends," she contended. "I literally prayed. And it took an enormous amount of forgiving. It was very painful."

In October 2007, the National Enquirer reported that 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards had had an affair with a staffer who worked on his campaign. Shortly afterward, the senator insisted that he hadn't been unfaithful to his wife of three decades, Elizabeth Edwards, who had been diagnosed with incurable breast cancer earlier in the year. However, we later learned that John's mistress was Rielle Hunter, a woman who was 11 years his junior. In fact, in Hunter's 2012 memoir "What Really Happened," she posited that he had at least three other mistresses. 

Hunter revealed to ABC News the following year that their affair started long before he hired her to shoot behind-the-scenes footage for his campaign. While Elizabeth eventually caught wind of her husband's dalliance, he brushed it off as a one-night stand, which wasn't all that convincing to her in the long run. Things got considerably more complicated in May 2007 when Hunter called the senator to inform him that she was pregnant with his child. John's former aide, Andrew Young, described his reaction: "He was cussing her out, calling her crazy and saying that she had sworn to him that she was physically unable to get pregnant and that he just felt like he had been set up." 

The staffer continued, "He tried to convince me to convince Rielle to have an abortion." In February 2008, Rielle gave birth to Frances Quinn, and it wasn't until January 2010 that John shared a statement to confess that she was his child. John and Elizabeth were already separated at the time, and she passed away in December 2010.

Matt Gaetz and his wife Ginger Luckey Gaetz are another political couple with a massive age gap. When they first met at a Mar-a-Lago event in March 2020, Ginger was 26 while her future husband was about 38. While speaking to the Daily Mail in December 2020, Ginger clarified that their 12-year age gap didn't get in the way of the couple's connection because she agreed to join him at Donald Trump Jr.'s now-ex-fiancée Kimberly Guillfoyle's birthday party the day after they first met. 

Their relationship only moved faster from there with the disgraced politician popping the question, again at Mar-a-Lago, in December 2020. Matt and Ginger then eloped in August 2021. Although Matt Gaetz has done some pretty scandalous things over the course of his political career, they arguably paled in comparison to the allegations that the former U.S. representative was involved in the sex trafficking of a minor, which were first revealed in a disturbing March 2021 New York Times report. While Ginger remained tight-lipped about the controversy, her sister, Roxanne Luckey, didn't hesitate to voice her thoughts. 

According to the Daily Beast, she posted a TikTok video proclaiming that the staunch Republican had desperately tried to get an older man to woo her when she was just 19 years old. In addition to labeling him "a literal pedophile," Roxanne also accused Matt of gaslighting her. However, it didn't appear as though Ginger saw eye to eye with her younger sister because she shared a statement with the Daily Beast reaffirming her love for her husband. Ginger also asserted that Roxanne had mental health issues that caused her to "engage in destructive behavior," and she was undergoing treatment for them.

According to the Washington Post, then-55-year-old Rudy Giuliani first laid eyes on then-45-year-old Judith Nathan at a cigar bar back in 1999. During a 2003 chat with the New York Times, the disgraced former New York City mayor divulged that sparks immediately flew when they saw each other but there was just one big problem: Giuliani was married to Donna Hanover at the time. Still, he supposedly didn't let his commitment stop him and started seeing Nathan regardless. 

CBS News reported that Hanover filed for divorce in October 2000 and alleged that her husband had an affair with ex-staffer Christyne Lategano-Nicholas, who was more than 20 years his junior. However, Giuliani and Lategano-Nicholas strongly denied any romantic involvement. Hanover's divorce from the disbarred lawyer was finalized in July 2002, and he married Nathan the following year. Then, in March 2018, Giuliani was spotted with married hospital administrator Maria Rosa Ryan, who was 21 years younger than him. 

Although insiders informed the New York Post that the pair were having an affair, Giuliani denied their claims. Still, he conceded that he had taken Ryan out for dinner and a movie while still maintaining that he had essentially separated from Nathan, who had filed to end their marriage shortly after the scandalous sighting. But Giuliani's third wife pushed back against this in a statement, writing, "My husband's denial of the affair with the married Mrs. Ryan is as false as his claim that we were separated." Giuliani and Nathan signed off on their divorce papers in 2019.