A gun-toting conservative who made news last summer for posting photos of herself that many thought resembled a Palestinian suicide bomber has admitted to cheating on her combat veteran husband with a former Tea Party staffer.

Holly Fisher became a social media phenomenon in July after posting a pair of photos showing her holding a variety of conservative totems – a Bible, AR-15 rifle, a Chick-fil-A cup, and wearing a pro-life T-shirt.

ADVERTISEMENT

“ATTENTION LIBERALS: do NOT look at this picture,” Fisher posted on her Twitter account. “Your head will most likely explode.”

She wasn’t happy when commenters on Reddit noticed the similarities between the second image and a photo of a Gaza suicide bomber known as the “White Widow,” who was seen holding an assault rifle and a Koran.

Conservative provocateur Charles C. Johnson recently contacted Fisher after hearing rumors that she had engaged in an extramarital affair last fall with Joel Frewa, then a video editor with the Tea Party News Network.

In a screen capture of their text conversation, Fisher strongly denies having an affair and asks Johnson why he would publish that information when the country is “literally going to hell.”

“Look, I have multiple people saying this and I have the messages your husband wrote,” Johnson said. “Do you want to stop lying?”

ADVERTISEMENT

Fisher admitted to the affair less than an hour later in a Facebook post, saying she had been overwhelmed by the media attention but had since reconciled with her husband.

“In the overwhelming mess of the political spotlight and trying to find myself and where I belong, I actually completely lost myself,” she said in the post. “I lost my faith in my marriage, I lost my faith in this life that not only I’ve chosen for myself, but a life that I promote. Happy military wife with kids and church and happy, happy, happy. False. My life crumbled. My marriage crumbled. I lost my faith in God.”

The affair allegedly took place during the Restoring the Dream event, a Faith and Freedom conference, and on Election night.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I didn’t know where I was going to go next or what I was going to do,” Fisher said on Facebook. “For a very short period in the middle of that, I actually believed my marriage was over and found someone else.”

Frewa later resigned from the Tea Party News Network, and the conservative blogger Johnson claims it was after rumors of the affair leaked.

ADVERTISEMENT

He denied the relationship to Johnson and told the blogger he didn’t have permission to quote him or to identify him as an employee of Tea Party News Network.

Johnson demanded an apology for lying from Fisher on Twitter, but she declined to do so.

She posted another message on Facebook saying the experience had humbled her, but she would continue promoting a message of conservative family values.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I will continue to fight for the unborn and the Constitution, just like I always have, and I will continue to share my imperfect journey as a Christian, just like I always have,” Fisher said. “I don’t condone my own actions or excuse them, but I have forgiven myself for them and I will be moving forward.”