Republican Campaign Arm Mocks a Democrat and His Wife for Going to Marriage Counseling

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans' campaign arm that works to get incumbents re-elected, mocked a Democrat and his wife on Thursday for attending marriage counseling.

Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC) and his wife, Amanda, have been attending marriage counseling, a revelation that was made public in one of her social media postings earlier this month, in which she went on a self-described "rant" to ridicule their health insurance provider for not covering the cost of mental health therapy and marriage counseling. The couple gets their health insurance through the government, considering Cunningham is a lawmaker.

The official Twitter account of the NRCC shared a screenshot from Amanda's Instagram account where she praised 2020 Democratic candidate and former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke for backing House impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

The NRCC wrote: "Looks like Mrs. Cunningham likes a man who supports baseless impeachment...wonder if this will come up in @RepCunningham's marriage counseling?"

Cunningham, a freshman congressman, is one of just 14 moderate House Democrats who've yet to back the chamber's impeachment inquiry into Trump. He and dozens of his newcomer colleagues were successful in flipping Trump districts last year.

The Republican campaign arm continued to doubled-down in their decision to ridicule Cunningham and his personal life.

In a statement to Newsweek, National Press Secretary Michael McAdams said: "We offer our sincere apologies that Mrs. Cunningham is so unhappy with her taxpayer-funded health care that she felt compelled to publicly whine about it."

Chris Pack, the NRCC's communications director, responded to criticism from a Twitter user by writing: "It's not our fault that @RepCunningham's wife publicly complains about having to pay for her marriage counseling, John. Take it up with her."

Cunningham fired back via Twitter on Friday, saying the NRCC "just hit rock bottom."

"Amanda is my rock - and the@NRCC just hit rock bottom," he wrote. "I respect my wife and all women, y'all should give it a try. Let's show them there's a price for living in the gutter."

In an Instagram post earlier this month, Amanda said that Blue Cross Blue Shield denied paying the couple's marriage counseling sessions, in addition to her mental health therapy sessions. She said it's something that should be changed.

"It's just mind blowing to me that these basic well-known needs—that mental health is health care—are still being denied, that we're still fighting for this absolutely basic thing. It's unbelievable to me," she said. "So, I'm reaching out to my congressman—yes, also my husbands—by saying, 'hey, what can we do about this? Let's go to the House floor, let's right a bill. I don't know what you do, but let's do it, because this is ridiculous."

"This effects us, our family," she continued, "it affects everyone else who's seeking mental health and needs support doing this. I'm just flabbergasted."

This story was updated to include a response from Rep. Joe Cunningham via Twitter on Friday.