DNC chairman refuses to say whether pro-life Democrats are welcome in the party

Is there room for pro-life liberals in the Democratic Party? The answer remains murky after Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, dodged questions about anti-abortion Democratic candidates on Sunday.

What did he say?

MSNBC host Kasie Hunt confronted Perez about the DNC’s stance on Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), who Hunt noted is a pro-lifeDemocrat. Lipinski takes heat from fellow Democrats over his position and is facing a primary challenge in this year’s election.

“Is there room for anti-abortion Democrats in your party?” Hunt asked.

Perez completely dodged the question and replied, "There's a very spirited debate in that particular race, and so one thing I've learned from watching presidential politics is that when the DNC gets involved in Democratic primaries—"

“But he’s an incumbent,” Hunt interrupted matter-of-factly.

Perez responded by claiming he doesn’t want to get involved in primary races because he wants to avoid the appearance of "trying to put the thumb on the scale."

"That's one of those races where we will see what happens,” he explained.

Perez never directly said whether pro-life, anti-abortion Democrats have the support of the DNC.

Where does Perez and the DNC stand on pro-life liberals?

Perez made headlines last year when he drew a line in the sand on abortion and demanded ideological purity through Democratic ranks.

"Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health. That is not negotiable and should not change city by city or state by state," Perez declared.