Guess Who’s Saying the Arizona Election was Stolen?

The election in Arizona isn’t even over and some conservative extremists are already saying it was stolen. Though Senator Mark Kelly has won reelection, the gubernatorial race has not yet been called and, given Republican candidate Kari Lake’s history and rhetoric, it’s no surprise that her supporters are already causing trouble. And just like in 2020, one of the principal proponents of the 2022 stolen-election theory is Donald Trump’s former Chief Strategist and January 6th hype-man, Steve Bannon.

Bannon, who has already been charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud due to his scam to “fund Trump’s border wall”—not to mention being convicted of criminal contempt of Congress and sentenced to four months in prison—has been spouting conspiracy theories, saying the election in Arizona was stolen, and offering his podcast platform to others to do the same. Among these guests are “True the Vote” founders Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht, who were only just released from prison a week ago for contempt of court.

Bannon is “questioning” Katie Hobbs’ ability to fairly execute an election, given she is the current Secretary of State, and is calling on Governor Doug Ducey to not certify the results. (But if he wouldn’t do it when Trump called him directly, do you really think he’s gonna do it for you, Steve?) This is hilariously hypocritical as he accuses Katie Hobbs of an overreach of power and using her office to steal the election and yet his solution is for Governor Ducey to overstep his authority and steal the election. Also, the fact that they’re already calling foul play when the race isn’t even over just shows how insecure and in denial they are. They’re like toddlers, they refuse to accept defeat.

As an actual Arizonan, I want to say: No, Bannon, the election was not stolen. While Arizona is often categorized as “Diet Texas” when it comes to our politics, the truth is that the state has been shifting bluer for a while. This has been helped by Native American voters who were furious with lackluster COVID response, Latinx activists, college-educated women, independent voters who were tired of Trump, and general shifts in population demographics, with more voters coming in from places like California and a general decline in rural influence.

The fact of the matter is, the world these MAGA Republicans thought they knew is changing, and just because they’re stuck in their hateful ways doesn’t mean the rest of the country is.