President Joe Biden is warning the country about what he believes is the existential threat posed by so-called “MAGA Republicans.”
In the president’s own words, people who would fall into that category — and pose a threat to democracy — are those who reject the results of an election.
Despite all the rhetoric about threats to democracy, during the primaries this year Democratic groups spent millions to prop up Republican candidates who have raised doubts about the 2020 election results. The theory behind the spending is that those candidates would be easier for the Democrats to defeat in the general election.
Vice President Kamala Harris was given an opportunity to condemn that approach during an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd, and her response just further highlights the hypocrisy of Biden’s warning.
“When you see the Democratic Party, and some parts of the party, funding ads to promote some of these election deniers in primaries — whether it’s Michigan, the high-profile race there, Illinois, Colorado, New Hampshire — it looks a little bit cynical,” Todd suggested.
He continued, “And the president went out of his way to say there are good Republicans here. Should you leave the good Republicans alone in a primary? Is the Democratic Party making a mistake here? Those people could win.”
“I mean, listen, I’m not going to tell people how to run their campaigns,” Harris began.
Todd interjected to ask, “Would you have done this? Is this something you’d be comfortable with?”
“I’m not going to tell people how to run their campaigns,” Harris said, adding, “I know that it is best to let a candidate, along with their advisers, let them make the decision based on what they believe is in the best interest of their state. I’m not going to tell them what to do.”
Watch the video below:
WATCH: @VP Harris refused to approve or disapprove of the Democratic strategy of propping up far-right candidates in primaries.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 11, 2022
“I'm not going to tell people how to run their campaigns.” pic.twitter.com/lSfHpbKfl4
Still not satisfied with the vice president’s response, Todd asked a third time, “You’re not worried that this reflects poorly on the Democrats?”
“I think that what we have to focus on is that in 60 days, as of this interview, in less than two months, we are looking at a midterm election in which so much is on the line,” Harris responded.
While Biden is warning that “MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” the Democrats have been hoping that these very candidates will help them keep power by spending money on ads designed to boost their prospects instead of more mainstream candidates.
But heading into a midterm election — which historically tends to favor the party out of power — this is a risky gambit as those election-denying candidates might actually win their elections. And then the same people that Democrats have been warning about, while spending money to help them win primaries, will be in power.
We’ve heard the phrase “country over party” a lot in recent years. And that applies to Republicans just as much as it does to Democrats. But apparently, the Democrats would rather risk elevating even more fringe candidates to power just so that they can maybe hold onto a few extra House seats than promote more normal, mainstream ones.
Either these candidates pose a grave danger to American democracy. Or they do not. But if they do, then the Democrats should not be giving a single cent to help them. Since the primaries are all but over, it’s a little too late to undo the damage. And so Biden’s warnings about “MAGA Republicans” will always stink of hypocrisy.
