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Arizona GOP Primary “Sweltering” with “Political Heat” As Trump and Pence Rally for Opposing Extremists

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Last Friday, Donald Trump and Mike Pence brought their nasty proxy war to Arizona to campaign for their competing candidates in the Arizona GOP primary for governor — Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson.

“Trump and Pence’s dueling events in Arizona this week highlighted how the GOP primary for governor is an all-out brawl for who can go further in embracing the Big Lie and pushing radical abortion bans and other far-right policies,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson share their extremism in common — but their infighting continues to escalate as the GOP becomes increasingly divided heading into next week’s primary.”

Here’s what folks are saying about this weekend’s GOP infighting:

  • CBS News: “Phoenix was sweltering Friday, and the political heat may have been just as uncomfortable, with former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence holding dueling rallies for opposing candidates in the upcoming Republican primary race for governor.”
  • ABC News: “With former President Trump and former Vice President Pence stumping for competing candidates in the Arizona governor’s race over the weekend, the state’s voters appeared to be caught in a proxy-battle between the two Republican heavyweights amid ongoing fallout over the 2020 election.”
  • Insider: “On policy matters, there’s relatively little that separates the two candidates; it would be a mistake to cast Robson as a moderate, at least based on how she’s running her campaign.”
  • The Atlantic: “In the Arizona GOP primary for governor, Pence is, in essence, campaigning against Trump … Even Robson—someone who is considered the establishment choice—has agreed that the 2020 election was unfair.”
  • CNN: “Trump, meanwhile, campaigned with a slate of candidates who have parroted his lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election — led by Kari Lake, a former local television news anchor who Ducey said Sunday on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ is ‘misleading voters with no evidence.’”
  • The Guardian: “The Trump-Lake event on Friday evening took place about 90 miles north of Phoenix in Prescott Valley, one of the reddest parts of the state, with deep seated undercurrents of racism, including the presence of white supremacy groups such as the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers.”
  • Associated Press: “The Arizona primary is among Trump’s last opportunities to settle scores and install allies to lead states that may prove decisive if he decides to run again in 2024.”
  • ABC 15: “[Trump] didn’t mince his feeling about Governor Doug Ducey. ‘Your Governor Doug Ducey has done nothing to help absolutely nothing to help,’ said Trump in front of adoring supporters who booed Ducey … For the second trip Trump has made to Arizona this year, the divide in the Arizona GOP was on full display Friday.”
  • 3 TV/CBS 5: “One of the moments from the rally that drew an enormous reaction from the crowd was Lake speaking about open borders and drugs in Arizona. ‘So we’ve got a wide open border. We got a governor who is weak and won’t do a darn thing. I call him Do-Nothing Ducey,’ said Lake.”

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