Martha McSally claims to “stand up to her own party” – unless of course they are propping up her campaign. Renowned right-wing extremist Allen West endorsed McSally last month, and new financial reports reveal he is spending tens of thousands of dollars on her behalf in order to rewrite her radical record.
Despite West’s well-documented record of inflammatory rhetoric and views far outside Southern Arizona’s mainstream, McSally has refused to reject his endorsement and campaign contributions.
“You can tell a lot about Martha McSally from the company she keeps – so it’s no surprise that she is allowing a self-proclaimed extremist who has compared Social Security to slavery, called the Dream Act ‘reprehensible,’ and thinks student loans are ‘communist,’ to prop up her campaign,” said Tyrone Gayle of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “If Martha McSally really wanted to ‘stand up to her party,’ she would denounce Allen West and refuse his campaign contributions.”
Last month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched MarthaMcSketchy.com to highlight how McSally is desperately trying to scrub away her radical record.
BACKGROUND:
Allen West’s PAC Spent $45,000 in Support of Martha McSally’s Congressional Run. In October 2014, Allen West’s PAC, the Allen West Guardian Fund, spent $45,000 on digital media advertising in support of Martha McSally’s congressional campaign. [FEC.gov, 10/02/14]
Headline: Allen West: Combat Is No Place For A Woman[Huffington Post. 1/24/13]
West a Self-proclaimed Right-Wing Extremist: “I am just honored to be here today with all of my fellow right-wing extremists.” [Tampa Bay Times, 9/26/10]
West Called the Democratic Party a “21st Century Plantation,” Compared Himself to Harriet Tubman. “You have this 21st century plantation that has been out there where the Democrat party has forever taken the black vote for granted. And you have established certain black leaders who are nothing more than overseers over the plantation. And now the people on that plantation are up because they’ve been disregarded, disrespected and their concerns are not cared abt. So I’m here as the modern day Harriet Tubman to kind of lead people on the underground railroad away from that plantation into a sense of sensibility.” [Fox News, 8/17/11]
West Called Federal Student Loans Communist. “You can start dictating where people can go to school, loans that they can get and the payment of those loans. I gotta tell you, that’s something that (unintelligible) in a book written by Marx or Engels called The Communist Manifesto. It’s called the state control of education.” [Dania Beach Town Hall, 6/11/12]
West Said Tolerance Would Lead to “Cultural Suicide.” “We have to understand that when tolerance becomes a one-way street it leads to cultural suicide…We should not allow the Muslim Brotherhood or associated groups to be influencing our national strategy.” [Fox News, 4/23/14]
West Said Americans Weren’t Concerned About Gay Marriage. “I think if you poll the American people…I don’t think they’re going to bring up gay marriage as one of the top concerns. The American people are concerned about where they’re working…Let’s stay focused on things that are critical for the American people right now and not try to create some kind of situation, you try to take me down a rabbit hole,” said West. [YouTube, uploaded 4/06/12]
West Called Dream Act “Reprehensible.” “Rep. Allen West (R-FL) attacked a recent DREAM Act hearing in the Senate as ‘reprehensible’ and complained that elected officials such as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) were being ‘almost treasonous’ by inviting undocumented children and young adults to attend the hearing.” [Political Correction, 7/08/2011]
West Compared Social Security to Slavery. “Since June of 2009 or so, we have seen 2.4 million private sector jobs created, but we’ve had 3.1 million people going on Social Security disability,” said West. “So once again, we are creating a sense of economic dependence, which to me, is a form of modern 21st century slavery.” [Sun-Sentinel, 7/09/02]
West Said Medicare Would End the United States. “I gotta tell you something: If you support Medicare the way it is now, you can kiss the United States of America goodbye.” [WPTV, 4/27/11]