The White House did not respond directly when asked about Democrats supporting candidates who question the 2020 election results in Republican primaries in hopes of securing victories in the general election, a strategy that operatives have described as risky.
Throughout the midterm elections, some Democratic operatives have been engaging in a spoiler strategy to prop up candidates perceived as being fringe in GOP primary contests to attempt to make general elections more winnable for Democratic candidates, which White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Tuesday.
DEMOCRATS MEDDLE IN MICHIGAN GOP PRIMARY IN LATEST ATTEMPT TO PROMOTE FAR-RIGHT CANDIDATE
“Yesterday, in his speech, the president said, ‘You can’t be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy,'” a reporter said. “There are Democrats across the country that are spending money, supporting these candidates, basically. What does the president think of that?”
Jean-Pierre declined to respond directly before pivoting to former President Donald Trump.
“I can’t, I mean, I’m not going to speak to that, especially as we’re looking at an election or anything that’s related to potential midterms,” she said, appearing to refer to the Hatch Act. “But I do want to make it very clear what the president did yesterday. He has said this before when he has talked about what the former president, his predecessor, how much he bears responsibility for what happened on Jan. 6.”
In the latest attempt to interfere in GOP primaries, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is set to spend $425,000 on a new TV ad promoting pro-Trump candidate John Gibbs in his effort to oust freshman Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI), a centrist who was one of the 10 Republicans to vote in favor of impeachment, in the race for the GOP nomination for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, which President Joe Biden won by 9 percentage points.
Meijer’s race is not the first time Democrats have attempted to boost a GOP candidate they see as an easier defeat in a general election, with the House Majority PAC having unsuccessfully attempted to promote Chris Mathys over centrist Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) in the primary race for California’s 22nd District, a D+5 seat.
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In various other states, such as Illinois, Maryland, and Colorado, Democratic operatives cut facetious ads touting Republican primary hopefuls for their 2020 election denialism, hardcore stances on abortion, and other positions seen as precarious in a general election.
Centrists have bemoaned the strategy, with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan pinning the blame for Dan Cox’s recent GOP primary triumph on “collusion between Trump and the Democrats.”
