Maloney defends DCCC funding Trump-backed GOP primary candidates

by Brad Dress - 08/21/22 11:47 AM ET

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) on Sunday pushed back against criticism over the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) funding GOP candidates backed by former President Trump in Republican primaries, arguing Democrats are doing their jobs to keep “dangerous MAGA Republicans” out of office.

“Absolutely not did we put party over country,” Maloney told moderator Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The moral imperative right now … is to keep the dangerous MAGA Republicans who voted to overturn our election out of power.”

In this year’s GOP primaries, the DCCC has aired ads promoting candidates who have endorsed Trump’s false claims the 2020 election was stolen, betting the far-right and more extremist nominees will lose in tough districts against Democrats.

Earlier this month, Trump-endorsed candidate John Gibbs beat out Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) in his primary battle. Maloney and the DCCC were criticized for airing an ad supporting Gibbs.

Meijer was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Maloney said on Sunday that Democrats are now far more likely to pick up that Michigan seat come November, calling House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) the “big loser.”

“My job is to win elections for the Democrats, and I take that seriously because the moral imperative is keeping the gavel out of the hands of Kevin McCarthy, who would have overturned the results of the [2020] election,” he told NBC. “I understand that there are difficult moral questions, philosophical questions, about tactics. That’s always true in politics.”

“John Gibbs is a weak opponent. He’s an extremist with a vicious anti-choice record. He can’t string a set of policies together that will make sense for western Michigan,” Maloney continued. “We’re going to win that seat. And we believe that by keeping those dangerous people out of power, we address the larger moral imperative. And that’s our job.”