NOT THE BABYLON BEE: Rep. Van Taylor apologizes for affair with ‘ISIS bride,’ abruptly drops reelection bid. Two-term Plano Republican concedes runoff to Keith Self after admitting ‘horrible mistake.’

Rep. Van Taylor apologized Wednesday for an affair with an ex-jihadist dubbed the “ISIS bride” by British tabloids and abruptly dropped his bid for a third term, conceding the GOP runoff to rival Keith Self, a former Collin County judge.

“About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life,” he said in an email to supporters.

The infidelity surfaced just before Tuesday’s primary with help from a third candidate, Suzanne Harp.

A Plano resident named Tania Joya – widow of the most infamous American to join the Islamic State – contacted Harp last Thursday, hoping she would confront Taylor privately and persuade him to drop out and resign from Congress.

Instead, Harp sent a supporter to interview Joya, who along with her husband has been profiled in the The Atlantic and tabloid fodder for years in her native Britain.

On Sunday afternoon, two days before the primary, a rightwing website, National File, posted audio of that 35-minute interview full of salacious details about the nine-month affair. The next day, the conservative site Breitbart posted a similar story that it labeled “exclusive.”

Conservatives gleefully spread the stories on social media.

Does “gleefully spread” count as a pounce or a seize?

Flashback to 2017: ‘First Lady of ISIS’ Claims ‘Racism’ in UK Drove Her to Join Islamic State.