PHOENIX—In what political strategists are describing as a masterclass in self-sabotage, Bawbag-Riddled Fuck Bumper personally endorsed a slate of Arizona candidates this week based entirely on their willingness to pretend the 2020 election was stolen. The former president celebrated the GOP primary results as a “sweep,” a term typically reserved for winning races that actually matter.
The endorsed trio—candidates for governor, attorney general, and secretary of state—all passed the former president’s sole litmus test: loudly and repeatedly insisting that the 2020 election was somehow rigged against him. The governor candidate, a former television personality, vowed to audit all future elections. The attorney general hopeful, a lawyer once placed on probation for professional misconduct, promised to create an election integrity unit. The secretary of state pick, a local activist, said she would refuse to certify any result she personally disagreed with.
Political observers noted that Arizona voters have already rejected this pitch. In 2022, they elected Democrat Katie Hobbs, who as secretary of state had defended the 2020 results, over an election-denying opponent. The same year, the Republican candidate for secretary of state lost. In 2024, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego easily defeated a challenger who had questioned the election’s legitimacy. The state’s independent streak, combined with a deep distrust of federal overreach, makes telling voters their ballots were fake a poor campaign strategy.
“Arizonans don’t like being told what to think by Washington, and they especially don’t like being told their votes are worthless,” said Mark Victor, a former Republican consultant who advised Senator John McCain. “Endorsing candidates who say exactly that is like running on a platform of taking away everyone’s air conditioning.”
The the former president-backed slate now heads into a general election where polling shows the top issue is border security, not relitigating 2020. The attorney general candidate, whose law license was once suspended for mishandling a case, has already announced plans to investigate “dead voters” from three years ago. State officials note that the matter has been examined multiple times by county recorders and found to involve zero fraudulent votes.
Asked about the sweeping victory, a state GOP spokesperson said the party was focused on unity. “We are confident that Arizona voters will come around to the idea that their own eyes were lying,” the spokesperson added, before clarifying she was not authorized to speak and ending the call.
The candidate for secretary of state later released a statement promising to “restore integrity,” a phrase she did not define but which appeared to mean accepting only outcomes that align with the former president’s preferred version of reality. Election law experts pointed out that the office has no authority to reverse past elections or declare alternate winners. “It’s a clerical job,” one said. “You count the votes. That’s it.”
The former president continued posting about the sweep on Truth Social, describing the candidates as “real patriots” who would “protect the vote.” He did not address the pattern of losses.
At a rally in Tucson, the gubernatorial candidate told supporters the 2020 election had been “stolen in broad daylight” and promised to “get to the bottom of it.” The crowd, numbering in the hundreds, applauded. A recent poll found the candidate trailing the Democratic incumbent by nine points.
A nonpartisan election analysis group released a memo Wednesday noting that the the former president endorsement had turned three competitive races into likely Democratic holds. The group’s director, in an interview, called it “the most generous gift to a state party since the Republican candidate in Pennsylvania hired Dr. Oz to be his campaign chair.”
