Dems attack GOP candidate over women's suffrage posts after spending nearly $500K to help him win primary

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Democrats who spent nearly half a million dollars to help a Trump-backed candidate win a Michigan congressional primary say the GOP must "answer" for that same candidate after his previous comments on the patriarchy, women's suffrage and differences between men and women resurfaced.

John Gibbs, who defeated Republican Rep. Peter Meijer in the GOP primary last month, has taken fire after CNN resurfaced posts he made while in college at Stanford, where he founded the "Society for the Critique of Feminism" to push back against claims that "a patriarchal society is inherently wrong" and to argue for the "headship of man over woman."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which spent $485,000 on ads apparently designed to boost Gibbs over his more moderate rival, Meijer, in order to make the race easier for the Democrat opponent in the November election, said the Republican Party needs to take responsibility for Gibbs and denounce him.

"The GOP must answer for a candidate who believes women having the right to vote has damaged America," said Matt Corridoni of the DCCC. "The real question is when the NRCC [National Republican Congressional Committee] will denounce Gibbs and remove him from their ‘Young Gun’ program. Their silence is deafening," he added.

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John Gibbs, a candidate for Congress in Michigan's 3rd Congressional District, speaks at a rally hosted by former President Donald Trump near Washington Township, Michigan, on April 2, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In 2000, Gibbs wrote in a post linked to a Stanford webpage, which was archived by CNN, that Christianity may support patriarchy and that the biblical injunctions to not allow women in leadership roles in the church was based on human nature.

 "…[B]ecause women do not posess (sic) the characteristics necessary to govern, and since women have a more important task to do, which is to prepare the next generation, they are commanded not to rule," the post says.

In another section, Gibbs wrote that women voting has led to a larger federal government "because women tend to vote more ‘socialistic’ than men, for larger and more intrusive government…"

Gibbs concluded that "the United States has suffered as a result of women's suffrage." 

The Gibbs campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Gibbs, who worked in former President Donald Trump's administration, faces Democratic nominee Hillary Scholten in the Nov. 8 general election. Scholten called Gibbs' statements emblematic of the Republican Party.

"The assault on women’s rights is in full force. Not on my watch," Scholten tweeted Wednesday.

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Meijer, one of the few House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump, narrowly lost the primary to Gibbs, who benefited from the former president's endorsement.

After the primary, the DCCC appeared to celebrate Gibbs' win, referring to him as a "MAGA extremist" who would ensure Democrats would retake the seat in November.

Michigan Democratic congressional candidate Hillary Scholten is seen in an ad named "Tough." (Hillary Scholten for Congress)

"Last night, Donald Trump’s dream became the GOP’s nightmare. John Gibbs’ winning this primary seals the fate of Republicans hoping to keep this now Democratic-leaning district," the DCCC told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"An anti-choice radical who sided with violent insurrectionists and would throw out your vote if he doesn’t like it, Gibbs is no match for Hillary Scholten, who has dedicated her career to bringing people together to get things done. Republicans have no choice but to embrace their unelectable MAGA extremist candidate," the DCCC added.

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Gibbs, Meijer and the National Republican Congressional Committee did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.