Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham admired the ‘merits’ of communism in college, North Carolina Republicans say. | Facebook
Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham admired the ‘merits’ of communism in college, North Carolina Republicans say. | Facebook
While in college, Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham admired the "'merits' of communist ideology" and other radical ideologies, the North Carolina Republican Party said in July.
The GOP believes it is because of these ideologies that Cunningham was chosen by Washington Democrats over a Black woman, who is more qualified for the job, the Republican Party alleged in a July 30 press release.
The party's comments come following a July 29 report from the Washington Free Beacon, which reviewed statements the Democratic candidate made decades ago while in college at UNC-Chapel Hill when he was the student body president.
Cunningham is running to unseat incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) to represent the state in the U.S. Senate. Ballotpedia's collection of race ratings list the Cunningham-Tillis contest as a toss-up as of Aug. 4.
Cunningham explained communist ideologies in a UNC student newspaper, the Free Beacon reported, adding that during the interview, he was asked if the ideology had "merit" with Cunningham's answer suggesting he views communism with positivity.
"There's very much merit in communist ideology, but you have to be careful how you define it," he said in the college interview, Free Beacon reported. "I think that in practice, what we saw in the Soviet Union was totalitarianism in action."
He said there are flaws to communism, but there are "a lot of things we can still take" from Marxism, Free Beacon reported.
Cunningham's interview with the student newspaper took place around the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, the Republican Party said in the news release.
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