Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean announced that he would not support the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) if it funds pro-life candidates.
“I’m afraid I’ll be with holding [sic] support for the DCCC if this is true,” Dean wrote on Twitter, referencing a report from the Hill about DCCC chair Rep. Ben Ray Luján’s (D-NM) promise not to “litmus test” pro-life candidates who are against abortion:
I'm afraid I'll be with holding support for the DCCC if this is true. https://t.co/gt5gs4erdq
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) July 31, 2017
Dean tried to walk back his statement in an interview, where he said there are “degrees of pro-life” and did not want to bankroll candidates who “oppose all abortion rights.”
The former DNC chair took a much different tone in May when he said that the Democratic Party should include pro-life candidates.
“I don’t believe we should exclude people from the Democratic Party just because they call themselves pro-life,” Dean told the Atlantic.
He added that he met with the group Democrats for Life during his tenure as DNC chair when the party took back the majority in the House with the help of a few pro-life candidates.
Current DNC chair Tom Perez supported giving Democrat candidates a “litmus test” of their support for abortion in April, calling a woman’s right to choose a “non-negotiable” issue.
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