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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chair, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., defended his decision to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into boosting a pro-Donald Trump candidate in the Michigan Republican primary, declaring Sunday that Democrats are now guaranteed to “win that race.”
Maloney was criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike after the DCCC spent $425,000 on an ad boosting Trump-endorsed John Gibbs, who ended up winning the primary in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District against incumbent Republican Rep. Peter Meijer, who voted to impeach the former president after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
During an appearance Sunday on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” anchor Margaret Brennan asked Maloney whether he would take responsibility for “helping election deniers” in the Republican primary.
“There’s only one race in the country, one, where we were we engaged in the tactic you’re talking about,” Maloney responded. “And what we did was we ran an ad that’s true – that said he’s too extreme for Western Michigan, and we ran that general election ad about two weeks early.”
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) speaks during a press conference on the Inflation Reduction Act at Glynwood Boat House on August 17, 2022 in Cold Spring, New York.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
DCCC’S MALONEY ADMITS BOOSTING P RO-TRUMP CANDIDATE RAISES ‘DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS’
“Hillary Scholten has been beating him consistently since she became our nominee,” he continued. “She’s a strong pro-choice Democrat. He’s a nut, and she’s gonna beat him.”
Candidate for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional district John Gibbs waves to the crowd as he comes on stage during a rally held by former U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington Township, Michigan, U.S. April 2, 2022.
(REUTERS/Emily Elconin)
Brennan pressed Maloney further by asking whether he “stands by this strategy.”
“What I can tell you is that in a budget of $340 million, we spent about $400,000 running a true general election commercial two weeks early, calling John Gibbs an extremist, which he is, and that’s all you’re talking about,” the congressman replied. “I can’t answer to what governors did or what senators did or what other people did, but the committee I ran, in a budget of $300 million, put $400,000 into speeding up a general election ad that was truthful, and we’re going to win that race.”
Maloney has previously admitted that meddling in Republican primaries raises “difficult moral questions.”
Fox News Power Rankings earlier this month updated Michigan’s 3rd District from Toss Up to Lean D.
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., participates in the press conference following the House GOP leadership elections in the Longworth House Office Building on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018.
(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Still, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chairman, appeared earlier on the same program, saying the Nov. 8 election is going to be a “good election” for turnout and for Republicans.
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“I think this is going to be a very good election because people are awake, they’re paying attention,” Emmer told Brennan.
“I really think we’re going to have a good election,” he said. “I think you’ve got 15 million plus that have already participated in early voting across this country. I think you’re gonna have a big turnout in nine days from now on the election.”