I Could Have Predicted This

In fact, I sort of did earlier today, when Lou Peck’s story about the GOP CD6 debate made clear that Brian Griffiths, one of the moderators for the debate, was smack in the middle of a dustup with one of the candidates, Amie Hoeber. But now it’s turned into a full blown war of words. I may disagree philosophically with Ryan Miner, but he strikes me as a decent guy. And he’s pissed.

Red Maryland’s Editor-in-Chief Brian Griffiths used his panelist perch at the Montgomery County Republican congressional 6 debate to badger Amie Hoeber about her personal stance on whether she is pro-life or pro-choice.

A fair question indeed, but Griffiths had other motivations – as he usually does. His motivations extended to overtly misrepresenting Hoeber’s position in a sad – and really weird – attempt to besmirch Hoeber’s campaign.
I used to enjoy listening to Red Maryland, but then Andrew Langer and Mark Newgent left the network.

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Griffith apparently disliked Hoeber’s answer to his question, so he did what he usually does; he took to Red Maryland’s website and wrote a manipulative, disgusting, disingenuous and patently false article about Hoeber and lied about her position on abortion. Then he blasted his article on Facebook and other social media outlets in a sad attempt to garner ratings.

Amie Hoeber wasn’t exactly thrilled, either. She issued a statement:

I am NOT pro-abortion. The headline in Red Maryland’s article this morning is totally wrong. Brian Griffiths, the author and editor-in-chief, should be ashamed as a journalist for his purposeful misinterpretation. This is unprofessional and un-Republican.

I demand a retraction and apology. Brian is hurting the reputation of all Republicans with this sort of diatribe.
I repeat – I am NOT “pro-abortion,” as Brian Griffiths claims. I encourage voters to review the video itself to determine precisely what I did say and how I stood up to hecklers in the audience who tried to bully me while I was answering.

I was raised by a Roman Catholic mother, and I would personally never have an abortion. But in a larger sense I am adamant that the Federal Government should not intrude into people’s personal lives.

I am the right candidate to take back the 6th District from the Democrats.

I won the straw poll at the first District 6 debate, beating out all the other candidates vying for this seat in Congress. My positions are consistent with Republican values. My primary expertise is in national security and homeland defense, which the Congress desperately needs.

I haven’t listened to the video, but I can say this: the optics of a young angry guy presuming to lecture an older woman about reproductive rights is pretty bad, especially for a state party that insists that it isn’t a crazy, right wing group of nutballs. If the GOP is going to have any chance in the CD6 race or other contests moving forward, this kind of behavior needs to be eliminated. Especially from a guy who hasn’t exactly done the Republican Party any favors.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one who predicted problems with Griffiths as a moderator - apparently he bought his seat at the table. According to the same source in 2015, Griffiths’ tenure as head of the YRs left him wildly unpopular within his own party.