Michigan GOP Congressman Criticizes Democrats For ‘Subsidizing’ Primary Opponent’s Campaign

Hours before western Michigan voters head to the polls for the primary, first-term Republican Rep. Peter Meijer blamed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for funding a $435,000 ad that has given airtime to his competitor, Donald Trump-endorsed John Gibbs.

Democrats had praised Meijer, who represents Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, when he was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump over the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.

“To leading Democrats, we were the Good Republicans,” Meijer wrote on Aug. 1 in a column titled “Why the Democrats Are Funding My Far-Right Opponent” that appeared on the Substack outlet, Common Sense.

“I am a staunch defender of the Constitution and the rule of law. Accordingly, I became the first incoming freshman to recognize former Vice President Biden’s presidential victory. Then, three days after I was sworn into office in January 2021, I was in the House chamber when rioters overran the Capitol,” Meijer wrote.

“A week later, I joined nine other Republicans, including Liz Cheney, to impeach then-President Donald Trump with a heavy but resolute conscience. I am the only freshman in history to impeach a president of his own party,” he added.

Meijer’s decision to impeach Trump motivated the former president to endorse Gibbs, who holds a computer science degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University, and worked as a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) official during the Trump administration.

DCCC’s Objective

The ad appears to attack Gibbs, but has also provided airtime for a campaign that has not had the money to elevate its name recognition on television in the Grand Rapids market, which critics say was the DCCC’s ultimate objective.

Meijer has raised 10 times more money than Gibbs, and has spent $2.1 million