After suggesting on Twitter that Republican activists should be willing to die to support President Trump’s challenge of his loss to President-elect Joe Biden, the Arizona GOP is saying the posts should not be taken literally.
“The Republican Party of Arizona condemns all forms of violence in the strongest terms,” party spokesman Zachery Henry told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday via email.
After conservative activist Ali Alexander tweeted on Monday, “I am willing to give my life for this fight,” the Arizona Republican Party retweeted the post with the comment: “He is. Are you?” Hours later, in a since-deleted tweet, the Arizona GOP posted a scene from an action movie featuring Sylvester Stallone with the highlighted quote: “This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing or die for something.”
He is. Are you? https://t.co/OY8qxNMPxm
— Arizona Republican Party (@AZGOP) December 8, 2020
Trump has refused to concede to Biden, claiming a broad conspiracy is at work to steal votes, to manufacture votes, and to deny him a second term. That has led some of the outgoing president’s staunch supporters to suggest they would be willing to engage in extraordinary measures to keep him in the White House. Asked to comment on the Arizona Republican Party’s social media posts, a spokesman said that is not what the party was encouraging.
“Fictional movie scenes should be weighed in their proper context,” Henry said, adding that his statement applied to both tweets in question.
Biden won the White House on Nov. 3 with 306 votes in the Electoral College, a victory that was bolstered by a lead in the national popular vote that has surpassed 7 million. But Trump is fighting the results, with his legal team filing lawsuits in the half-dozen swing states that made the difference in the race. Arizona, where Trump lost by 10,457 votes, is one of them.
Led by Chairwoman Kelli Ward, the Arizona GOP has filed lawsuits of its own, although none are expected to succeed in overturning the results in the state, which has already certified its results. Biden became the first Democrat to win Arizona since 1996.
