‘Turning Point Action’: Trump Goes Back to Arizona ‘to Set Agenda for Republicans’
15:55 GMT 24.07.2021 (Updated: 13:21 GMT 06.08.2022)
© REUTERS / EDUARDO MUNOZ
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Ahead of an upcoming visit to Phoenix, Donald Trump slammed Arizona Republican Paul Boyer, in his latest attack against all the GOP members who are against the ongoing audit of 2020 election results in the state.
Although former President Donald Trump has said he’s “looking forward” to visiting Arizona this weekend, he lost the state by about 11,000 votes to Democrat Joe Biden during the 2020 election.
The ex-POTUS is scheduled to appear at an event called the “Protect Our Elections Rally” in downtown Phoenix on 24 July.
In Thursday’s statement via his Save America Political Action Committee (PAC), Trump said that he was eager to speak “at Turning Point Action on Saturday afternoon, in the Great State of Arizona, at the Arizona Federal Theatre”.
“We will be broadcasting at approximately 6:00PM EST [3 p.m. Arizona time]. Big crowd, see you there!” he added.
The visit comes as work is wrapping up on an audit of the 2020 Maricopa County election that was authorised by GOP leaders of the state Senate. A number of Republicans, including Trump, have repeatedly insisted that the audit will support their allegations of widespread voter fraud, but results remain pending.
In this May 6, 2021, file photo, Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Arizona’s largest county has approved nearly $3 million for new vote-counting machines to replace those given to legislative Republicans for a partisan review of the 2020 election. The GOP-controlled Maricopa County Board of Supervisors said Wednesday, July 14, 2021 that the machines were compromised because they were in the control of firms not accredited to handle election equipment. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool, File)
© AP Photo / Matt York
Local Democrats have pushed back against the audit, questioning the security and validity of the audit by Cyber Ninjas, a private firm that they said lacks any experience with election reviews.
Trump’s second statement on Thursday exactly pertained to the Arizona audit, as he scolded Republican Senator Paul Boyer for opposing “forensic review" of Maricopa County's 2020 election results. The ex-POTUS minced no words when slamming Boyer as RINO, or Republican in Name Only.
“Republican Arizona State Senator Paul Boyer, a RINO if there ever was one, is doing everything in his power to hold up the damning Forensic Audit of Maricopa County which has been taking place over the last 90 days. The people of Arizona are demanding it. Boyer has been nothing but trouble, and nobody knows why. All we demand is Voter Integrity! […]", Trump noted.
Trump made several trips to Arizona during his unsuccessful re-election campaign last year, including those related to a Turning Point Action event at Phoenix’s Dream City Church in June 2020.
On Saturday, he will headline a gathering which is expected to focus on the importance of election integrity and the 2022 Congress elections for Republicans, according to the media outlet Azcentral.com.
However, “many of the expected 5,000 in attendance most want to know whether Trump will mount a political comeback in 2024 [, when the US presidential election will take place]”, the news website claimed, referring to the upcoming Phoenix event.
The media outlet also quoted George C. Edwards III, the distinguished professor emeritus at Texas A&M University, as saying that “as long as Trump continues to be a public presence, he will be setting the agenda for Republicans and Republican candidates”.
"He's going to force them to adhere to his agenda and particularly the Big Lies regarding the [2020] election outcome. It isn't a disadvantage for them in the primary, but it is a disadvantage perhaps in the general election, particularly if Trump is not wildly popular. Well, in Arizona, it's a mixed bag. […] Trump is not necessarily the road to success”, the professor asserted.
