Former President Trump is reviving his feud with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) over an election audit in the state being pushed by Republican state legislators.
In statements Friday and Saturday, Trump berated Ducey for what he deemed insufficient support for the effort. The former president maintains the audit push is necessary to detect what he says was voter fraud in November’s presidential race.
“Why are the Democrats so desperate to stop this Election Fraud from being revealed? That answer is obvious! The Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has been shockingly of zero help to the State Senate. He wants to ‘pretend’ the election was free and fair. What are he and the Maricopa County Commissioners trying to hide?” Trump said in a statement Friday.
Trump resumed his campaign against Ducey early Saturday morning, pressing him to provide security for those conducting the audit.
“The Republican Party is demanding that Governor Ducey of Arizona immediately provide large-scale security for the brave American Patriots doing the Forensic Audit of the 2020 Presidential Election. Governor Ducey will be held fully responsible for the safety of those involved. State police or National Guard must be immediately sent out for protection. The Democrats do not want to have this information revealed, and they will do anything to stop it. Governor Ducey must finally act!” he said.
Ducey’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill
Trump’s broadsides center around an election audit being pushed by the Arizona GOP. State legislators have hired Cyber Ninjas, a cybersecurity firm with no election experience, to run it. The company’s owner has shared unfounded allegations of election fraud on social media.
The audit was temporarily paused on a request from the state Democratic Party but was resumed after Democrats were unable to post a $1 million bond a judge requested to cover any expenses the halt imposed on the state legislature.
Trump has repeatedly leveled claims that the election was “stolen” from him, but he and his allies have thus far failed to produce any substantive evidence of widespread fraud.
The former president has focused most of his attention on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who shot down pressure from Republicans to overturn the state’s election results showing President Biden up by more than 11,000 votes. Trump has vowed to back a primary rival to Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who also did not go along with Trump’s requests to alter the vote total.
Ducey first drew Trump’s ire for certifying Biden’s victory in Arizona in November, with the former president saying there was “no way” he lost the Grand Canyon State and maintaining that “Arizona will not forget what Ducey just did.” Ducey also was censured by the Arizona GOP for certifying the election results.
Ducey, who is term-limited and ineligible to run for a third consecutive term in 2022, shot back with his own criticism in January, saying Trump bore some responsibility for the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.