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‘In furtherance of our winning the election’: Pelosi defends Dems backing pro-Trump candidates

July 30, 2022 | | Print Article

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Democrats’ widely panned habit of boosting allegedly fringe Republican election candidates by basically admitting that she’s willing to do anything and everything to make sure her team wins in November.

She offered the stunning defense during her weekly press briefing this Friday after a reporter questioned her about her clear-cut hypocrisy.

The reporter specifically noted that Pelosi has a history of arguing that the Republican Party needs to disassociate itself from the alleged fringe and rise back up as an establishment party that toes the line.

“Madam Speaker, you’ve repeatedly said that you want Republicans to take back their party. You said in May, quote, ‘Here I am, Nancy Pelosi, saying this country needs a strong Republican Party, not a cult,'” the reporter said.

Watch:

Yet, the reporter continued, this rhetoric contrasts sharply with her party lending support — and sometimes even money — to “fringe” candidates on the right.

“How does that square with your party now spending money to boost election-denying candidates in Republican primaries, including against House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump?” the reporter asked.

Pelosi replied by admitting that it’s all about winning elections by any means necessary.

“I said that we need a strong Republican Party, not a cult of personality. That didn’t mean we shouldn’t have a strong Democratic Party as well. And the political decisions that are made out there are made in furtherance of our winning the election, because we think the contrast between Democrats and Republicans as they are now is so drastic that we have to win,” she said.

“And I feel confident. … The most recent poll that came out has us 44 to 38. This whole thing has changed. But make no mistake, I’ve said to you, we have every intention of winning this election. As people make judgments in campaigns around the country, that’s that, but it has nothing to do with whether we should have a strong Grand Old Party, which has done great things for our country.”

She referenced an Economist/YouGov poll showing Democrats ahead by 6 percentage points in the 2022 generic congressional ballot.

Republicans still maintain an average 0.9 percentage point lead. It’s tightened drastically ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade late last month.

(Source: RealClearPolitics)

Democrats believe that allegedly “fringe” candidates like John Gibbs, Doug Mastriano, and Kari Lake would not fare well against Democrats, and so they’ve been offering them support in their current GOP primary races.

“Political groups and nonprofits aligned with the Democratic Party have spent nearly $44 million on advertising campaigns across five states’ Republican primaries to boost the profile of far-right candidates in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Maryland,” according to Open Secrets.

“Democrats’ strategy is rooted in the belief that these candidates — many of whom spread unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential race was stolen from former President Donald Trump — will be easier to defeat in a general election.”

Interestingly, this strategy has provoked beef within the Jan. 6th committee, where it turns out not everybody agrees with boosting the “fringe.”

Specifically, the so-called Republicans within the committee oppose the strategy.

“I think it’s disgusting. … While I think a certain number of Democrats certainly understand that democracy is threatened, don’t come to me after having spent money supporting an election denier in a primary … and say, ‘Where are all the good Republicans?'” Rep Adam Kinzinger told CNN this week.

“No party, Democrat or Republican, should be promoting candidates who perpetuate lies about the 2020 election and try to undermine our democracy. We all have a responsibility and obligation to put our duty to the country above partisan politics,” Rep. Liz Cheney added in a statement to Axios.

A few Democrats also complained as well.

But obviously, Pelosi doesn’t care. It’s almost as if she has no integrity and no principles …

Vivek Saxena
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