Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger blasted Democrats on Wednesday for their midterm strategy of funding Republican candidates in primary elections in the hopes they would be easier to beat in the general.
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) spent over $17 million on gubernatorial primary candidates they believed would be easier to beat. In the Illinois governor’s race alone, the DGA spent over $15 million to boost Republican candidates and portray them as too conservative. In June, the strategy yielded mixed results, as only one of the three promoted candidates won their primaries. Many of these candidates believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, a belief that Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have called a “direct threat – to the democratic process.”
“You called it disgusting here on this program that Democrats were helping elevate election deniers in the hopes that they would be easier to defeat in a general against a more moderate Republican. One of the moderates in the race is Peter Meijer lost his primary. What’s your reaction?” CNN host Brianna Keilar asked. (RELATED: Democrats Are Running A Risky Midterm Gambit And Hoping To Heck It Doesn’t Backfire)
“If Peter’s opponent wins and goes on to November and wins the Democrats own that,” Kinzinger said. “Congratulations. I mean here’s the thing, don’t keep coming to me asking where are all the good Republicans are that defend democracy and then take your donor’s money and spend half a million dollars promoting one of the worst election deniers that’s out there.”
“Democrats own that.”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the GOP primary defeat of Rep. Peter Meijer, a Republican who voted to impeach President Trump.
“The DCCC needs to be ashamed of themselves,” he says. pic.twitter.com/7Pul80RvJM
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) August 3, 2022
Republican Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer, one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump following the January 6 riot at the Capitol, lost his primary Tuesday to John Gibbs. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spent nearly $450,000 on ads promoting Gibbs’ opposition to abortion and his Trump endorsement.
“The DCCC needs to be ashamed of themselves,” Kinzinger responded to the election results. “Thankfully some members of Congress, Democrats have spoken out and said they’re disgusted. I respect that. I have spoken out against the National Republican Congressional Committee many times when they’ve done things I’ve disagreed with, and there are also people who say well this is just politics.”
Kinzinger called the strategy “cynical,” and added, “that’s why the Americans are just sick of both parties, to be honest.”