Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) says she’s being targeted by Democrats in Utah because “they don’t like the fact that I’m a Black female Republican.”
Love, 42, joined Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on his radio show Monday to address a Federal Election Commission complaint against her over her campaign contributions. The GOP congresswoman is accused by the FEC of illegally raising more than $1 million in campaign contributions for a Republican primary that was never held.
Mia Love accused opponent Ben McAdams and other Democrats of trying to assassinate her character. (Image courtesy of Al Drago / The New York Times)
Love denied the allegations, however, and blamed her opponent, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, and other Democrats for trying to assassinate her character. When asked if she felt Dems were targeting her because she’s a successful Black Republican, Love agreed.
“All of the above. Absolutely, all of the above,” she replied, adding, “They don’t like that I’m out there talking about that we are going to help make life better, that we are going to get people out of poverty programs that are completely trapping them. They don’t like the fact that I am a Black female Republican doing everything I possibly can to talk about issues that help people go from the lowest common denominator up.”
“They don’t like those things because they want to be in control,” Love continued. “They don’t want people to be in control.”
In a separate TV interview for Fox News by Kilmeade, Love attacked House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House Democrats, claiming they don’t love diversity as much as they like to let on.
“If you’re an independent thinker, that’s not the diversity they like,” she told Kilmeade. “They’re frankly afraid we’re going to bring more people to come along with us. I’d be happy to bring more Black women, more minorities to the Republican Party, and that’s certainly not something that Nancy Pelosi wants to see happen in Washington.”
Love and McAdams are in a bitter battle for the state’s 4th Congressional District and recently launched new attack ads slamming one another. Both insist their ads aren’t negative, however, and simply point out the facts.
As for Love’s trouble with the FEC, it remains unresolved after the congresswoman agreed to return or redesignate only some $370,000 of the more than $1 million in contributions she received for a primary election that never happened.
