Rep. Meijer blasts Democratic 'self-righteousness,' hypocrisy of backing his GOP primary opponent

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Rep. Meijer blasts Democratic 'self-righteousness,' hypocrisy of backing his GOP primary opponent

Appearing on CNN's "New Day" Friday morning, Republican Congressman Peter Meijer, R-Mich., hammered Democrats for supporting his GOP primary opponent via advertising despite the left's claims of defending democracy.

Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., hammered Democrats on Friday for throwing money into an ad campaign for his GOP primary opponent despite his questioning the 2020 election results.

Meijer called out Democratic Party efforts to manipulate the nomination of GOP candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections. He pointed to the hypocrisy of Democrats warning of American democracy being under threat from "election deniers," but then funneling money via advertising to Trump-backed candidates who support the former president’s assertions that the 2020 election was stolen.

"Meijer was one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, and his opponent received a major late-inning fundraising boost from Democrats," CNN's John Avlon observed as he introduced the Michigan lawmaker on "New Day."

DEMOCRATS 'MEDDLING' IN GOP PRIMARIES HOPING TO NOMINATE UNELECTABLE REPUBLICANS

In this Oct. 14, 2020 file photo, then-Michigan's 3rd District Congressional Republican candidate Peter Meijer speaks at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, file) ((AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, file))

The host noted how close the election was, "You represented your constituents and your conscience and defended democracy, but you came up short in this partisan primary. It was close, less than a 4,000-vote margin separated you from your opponent." Avlon then wondered, "So, do you think that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s major ad buy in the last week of the campaign made the decisive difference in your primary?"

While admitting that it was "impossible to know," Meijer did denounce such interference from Democrats: "I’m not here to whine about the DCCC coming in and meddling, but just to point out that any party that pretends to have a set of principles, any party that pretends to have a set of values and that comes in and boosts exactly the same type of candidate that they claim is a fear to – a threat to democracy, don’t expect to be able to hold on to that sense of self-righteousness and sanctimony."

DEMOCRATS REACHED 'CYNICAL LOW' BY MEDDLING IN GOP PRIMARIES, SAYS NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD

Rep. Peter Meijer appeared on CNN's "New Day" to discuss his election loss in Michigan's congressional primary, August 5, 2022.  (Screenshot/CNN)

He then called out the political cynicism of the left: "Don’t expect to have Republicans who will look at that and say, ‘I know I’m going to get heat from my own side,’ I never expected the other side to as well double down in a cynical ploy to put forward the candidate they think is less electable."

Meijer asked, "What type of a system are we going to have if candidates step forward and realize that they can just be ejected by both sides of the aisle? That there is no incentive to try to be a productive member." He worried that "it all will come down to partisan benefit no matter what the consequence."

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FILE:  A voter arrives at a polling location to cast his ballot in the Michigan Primary Election on August 2, 2022 in Lansing, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)