Why GOP secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem stayed true to a homophobic antisemite
I believe some of you are confused, and you shouldn’t be.
There is no need to wonder why on earth Mark Finchem, the Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state, did not rescind his endorsement of the homophobic, antisemitic Republican state Senate candidate in Oklahoma, Jarrin Jackson.
Just as there is no need to wonder why Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor, boldly stated her endorsement for Jackson (before the media made a big stink about it) then rescinded it in a whisper.
This is not complicated.
Finchem does not condemn racists, antisemites and homophobes like Jackson because … he needs them.
Finchem and Lake are connected by hate
They are, essentially, his core support group.
The same is true, in general terms, for Lake.
Just look at who these Republican candidates associate with and the fellow candidates they support and endorse.
After the endorsement: Lake changes course, Finchem and Rogers stay quiet
Finchem and Lake, for example, are joined at the hip. They’re Donald Trump cultists and election deniers. They filed a lawsuit trying to ban ballot-counting machines, a “frivolous” legal maneuver for which Maricopa County supervisors want a judge to slap them with attorney fees and sanctions.
Finchem is also a member of the far-right extremist Oath Keepers. The group’s founder and several members have been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
They went from big tent to pointy white hood
Also, as Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said, “We’ve seen the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, many of these organizations, engage in the kind of antisemitic rhetoric [and] engage in the kind of anti-Jewish hate. So it’s part and parcel of these organizations in the way that they operate.”
Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers is also a proud member of the Oath Keepers. Both she and Finchem took campaign contributions from Jackson.
Likewise, Rogers and Lake have exchanged endorsements of one another. Political allies, united by hate.
Lake, Finchem, Rogers and other Trump sycophants have taken over the GOP on a state and national level. What used to be a Republican Party trying to welcome everyone under a spacious big tent now seems more like a cult trying to welcome a select few under a pointy white hood.
Simple questions. You know the answers
They are what they are, and most of them are not trying to hide it.
Which leaves Arizona voters with a few simple questions.
Can a politician support another politician who manifests racist, antisemitic and homophobic views and not be racist, antisemitic and homophobic?
And can a citizen vote for such a politician and not be racist, antisemitic and homophobic?
You know the answer.
Like I said, this is not complicated.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why Mark Finchem stayed true to an antisemite and homophobe
