Arizona Mirror: “What was good for David Schweikert in the time of Trump might not be after redistricting”
A bombshell report from the Arizona Mirror found that vulnerable Congressman David Schweikert has repeatedly defended the January 6 insurrectionists and even went as far as to fund a group run by extremist conspiracy theory peddlers.
The piece highlighted Schweikert’s appearances on a “local extremist internet talk show this year defending the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and suggesting the FBI conspired in the day’s failed coup,” as well as his donations to a “PAC run by one of the talk show hosts that has called for abolishing the FBI, advocated for election falsehoods and spread numerous lies about COVID-19.”
Sounds like trouble for a congressman facing one of the most competitive races of his career.
“David Schweikert has long been going down the far-right rabbit hole, but funding election conspiracy theorists and defending insurrectionists is a new low for him,” said DCCC spokesperson Johanna Warshaw. “Schweikert’s extreme stances are completely out-of-touch with Arizonans, and he will have to answer for that at the ballot box in 2022.”
Arizona Mirror: What was good for David Schweikert in the time of Trump might not be after redistricting
By: Jim Small
Key Points:
- U.S. Rep. David Schweikert might end up being a case study in how escalating extreme rhetoric to avoid the wrath of former President Donald Trump and his voters turns from an advantage to a liability because of redistricting.
- In the immediate wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol that sent him and all of his colleagues scrambling for their lives as angry Trump rioters attacked police, broke through barricades, smashed windows and sought to stop Congress from certifying Trump’s loss, Schweikert praised Capitol police officers and “unequivocally condemn(ed)” those who committed violence.
- Just a few months later, he was lamenting the prosecution of those very people on the extremist talk show.
- “I don’t believe many of these people had malice in their souls, I don’t think they had malice in their hearts,” he told Jay Lawrence on Sept. 20. (Lawrence, a veteran radio host in Phoenix, recently spent several years in the state legislature, where he earned a reputation for bigoted comments and promoting QAnon.)
- In that same interview, Schweikert openly wondered about the FBI’s role in the insurrection, noting that the law enforcement agency was a “sting operator” and allegedly had “recordings of some of these folks, weeks ahead of time,” but had left the Capitol — which it doesn’t oversee or protect — vulnerable on Jan. 6, implying that the FBI had been dishonest.
- “If that’s true, the whole narrative of this was just a sneak attack that blew up out of… nowhere just can’t be true,” he said. “You can’t have both things — you can’t have a bunch of informants who’re recording the folks, or this just came out of nowhere. You can’t have both.”
- Schweikert’s defense of people who participated in the violent insurrection found a friendly audience. Lawrence’s show is broadcast by an outfit known as HUB Radio, which is run by a longtime far-right activist in Phoenix named Ron Ludders.
- HUB Radio and Ludders were particularly upset about the prosecution of Jake Angeli, the self-anointed QAnon Shaman who was among the first people to breach the Capitol and was famously pictured at the Senate dais shirtless with red, white and blue face paint, wearing a horned fur hat and carrying a spear.
- Ludders also runs a PAC that Schweikert gave $3,266 to in 2021, via his own leadership PAC. The donations are unusual, as congressional leadership PACs typically only give money to other candidates. Schweikert’s is no exception — the money given to Ludders’ Arizona Project is the only expense that isn’t another candidate or paying for routine compliance or operations.
- While downplaying the events of Jan. 6 for political gain might fuel support from Republican primary voters — GOP support for prosecuting insurrectionists is dropping quickly and the majority don’t think it was an attack on the government — the same can’t be said about Democratic and independent voters.
- All of which could spell trouble for Schweikert after redistricting, as he’s staring at the prospect of his double-digit GOP voter advantage vanishing into thin air: He’s currently been drawn into the new highly competitive District 1, where Republicans edge out Democrats by less than 2%.
- For the first time since he won his first election to Congress, Schweikert might have to worry about a general election. And his race more than any other may test just how willing Arizona voters really are to forgive and forget the extremism the Trump era incentivized among Republicans.
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