Impeachment Republican Kinzinger blames Democrat interference for Meijer defeat

Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Wednesday blamed Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Meijer's primary defeat on Democratic interference.

Kinzinger and Meijer were two of the Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot. Meijer lost a primary challenge from Trump-backed John Gibbs on Tuesday evening.

“If Peter’s opponent wins and goes on in November to win, the Democrats own that. Congratulations,” he said on CNN. “Here’s the thing, don’t keep coming to me asking where are all the good Republicans that defend democracy and then take your donors’ money to spend half a million dollars promoting one of the worst election deniers that’s out there.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads to boost Gibbs in the primary race, The Hill reported.

DCCC Chairman Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) has previously endorsed his party's use of so-called "spoiler candidates" to win elections. One party might lend its support to a spoiler candidate in the opposing party's primary contest because they view the candidate as easier to defeat in a general election.

The Democratic campaign apparatus purchased campaign ads on behalf of Trump-endorsed Maryland state Rep. Dan Cox during the Republican gubernatorial primary. Incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan decried what he called "unprecedented collusion" between the DCCC and Trump's allies.