Globetrotting nutjob Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has just admitted to a steamy Latin extramarital affair:

At a news conference in Columbia, S.C., Gov. Mark Sanford has now admitted that he had an extramarital affair with someone in Argentina, as he attempted to explain his mysterious disappearance from the state last week.

He said he had developed a relationship with someone in Argentina during the past year. Mr. Sanford returned from Buenos Aires this morning, after leaving the state capital last Thursday. His whereabouts had become a source of nearly national speculation, with aides first saying they didn’t know where he was, then saying he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail but unreachable.

It wasn’t until this morning that Mr. Sanford’s real location became known when a reporter for The State confronted him as he returned via the Atlanta airport.

Mr. Sanford also said he would resign from his position as head of the Republican Governors Association.

Here’s the video:


Earlier: Globetrotting Nutjob Mark Sanford Back From Argentina

Update: Here’s a wrap-up of how much of a scold Sanford has been when it comes to other people’s sex lives:

“The bottom line, though, is I am sure there will be a lot of legalistic explanations pointing out that the president lied under oath. His situation was not under oath. The bottom line, though, is he still lied. He lied under a different oath, and that is the oath to his wife. So it’s got to be taken very, very seriously.” [Sanford on Livingston, CNN, 12/18/98]

“We ought to ask questions…rather than circle the wagons for one of our tribe.” [Sanford on how the GOP reacts to affairs, New York Post, 12/20/98]

“I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally (to resign). I come from the business side. If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he’d be gone.” [Sanford on Clinton, The Post and Courier, 9/12/98]

“The issue of lying is probably the biggest harm, if you will, to the system of Democratic government, representatives government, because it undermines trust. And if you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything.” [Sanford on Clinton, CNN, 2/16/99]

Sanford has also been an opponent of same-sex marriage, saying in 2004, “As Jenny and I are the parents of four little boys, we’ve always taught our kids that marriage was something between a man and a woman.” [The Post and Courier, 2/11/04]

Update 2: Wonkette makes a great catch. Fox News has thrown Sanford out of the Republican Party!
This is not a mistake. Fixed News does this all the time.

Update 3: I agree with Steve Benen:

I’d be remiss if I neglected to add that while sex scandals are always going to generate public interest, the significance of Mark Sanford’s efforts to screw over his own constituents with his neo-Hooverite economic policies is almost certainly more offensive than anything he had going on in his private life.

Update 4: Thanks to my friend Andrew for pointing this one out. Sanford has apparently been hastily deleted from the website of the Family Research Council’s Value Voters summit. I almost feel sad for them — the potential list of speakers is growing smaller by the day!