在一场戏剧性的中期分屏中，前总统唐纳德·特朗普和他的前副总统迈克·彭斯将于本周末在亚利桑那州举行决斗活动，特朗普试图在他以微弱劣势输给总统乔·拜登的战场上复仇作为归零地延续他的“弥天大谎”
彭斯周一支持富裕的共和党捐助者、亚利桑那州董事会前成员卡林·泰勒·罗布森(Karrin Taylor Robson)，而不是特朗普去年秋天支持的前福克斯10台(Fox 10 Phoenix)主播卡莉·莱克(Kari Lake)，这标志着两位领导人之间的最新决裂，两人都有2024年的抱负，他们接近他们的整个政府，直到彭斯不愿屈服于特朗普干预推翻2020年选举的压力运动。
在他的声明彭斯称罗布森是“亚利桑那州未来的最佳选择”，是“促进保守价值观”的候选人，反映了共和党州长道格·杜西(Doug Ducey)的语言，任期有限，将再次竞选，在提前投票开始后的一天支持罗布森。杜西称罗布森在竞选中是“真正的保守派”。
虽然尚不清楚Ducey是否会加入他，但预计Pence将在周五为罗布森举办至少一场活动，而特朗普将在普雷斯科特为他的候选人集会。知情人士告诉ABC新闻，彭斯计划的细节仍在制定中。
一批特朗普的支持者在没有证据的情况下，支持他关于2020年选举被盗的错误说法，正在竞选负责监督和认证该州选举的全州办公室。引发对选举诚信的担忧共和党内部——这正是特朗普支持的候选人声称要竞选的问题。这位前总统与他们的集会因其前妻伊凡娜·特朗普的去世而从上周六重新安排，现在就在调查国会大厦袭击事件的众议院特别委员会将于1月6日举行黄金时段听证会，制定特朗普行动的时间表的一天之后。
“这是亚利桑那州共和党灵魂的战斗，”亚利桑那州共和党策略师巴雷特·马森周一告诉美国广播公司新闻。
但他对特朗普和彭斯在8月2日初选前10天来到镇上提出了警告。
“在亚利桑那州，真正需要注意的是，我们是提前投票者，所以特朗普和彭斯支持的影响有点小，”他说。
据统计，截至上周五，该州已提前收回253，000张选票，民主党初选中的选票比共和党多出约26，500张提升数据该网站从亚利桑那州民主党选民档案和亚利桑那州县记录员那里获取报道。
亚利桑那州州长竞选的不同之处在于，该州众议员马特·萨蒙(Matt Salmon)在6月份退出了竞选，这是在提前投票开始前一周，显然是为了巩固罗布森周围的选票。萨尔蒙批评莱克有一些虚伪的丑闻，比如过去曾向民主党候选人捐款。自从罗布森退出竞选以来，他的民调支持率有所上升，尽管莱克仍以微弱优势领先。
早在五月，在他们的第一个专业2022年中期周期的碰撞这位前副总统上次在佐治亚州州长初选之前举行了一次反对特朗普的集会，从特朗普转向现任共和党州长布莱恩·坎普(Brian Kemp)。坎普击败了特朗普招募的前参议员大卫·珀杜，并在没有决选的情况下飙升至胜利——这对特朗普的支持力造成了打击，特朗普的支持力将在两周后在亚利桑那州再次受到考验。
正在进行的支持凸显了特朗普和共和党之间的中期分歧。
彭斯周一支持罗布森之前，美国广播公司新闻撰稿人、新泽西州前共和党州长克里斯·克里斯蒂以及阿肯色州州长阿萨·哈钦森(Asa Hutchinson)也表示支持，后者也有自己的总统愿望，他表示他不认为特朗普应该成为2024年的共和党提名人。
自从证明拜登获胜(并臭名昭著地将特朗普发送到语音信箱)以来，杜西也受到特朗普的愤怒，她已经开始抨击莱克，称她的竞选活动是“所有的表演”，并使用了“假莱克”的绰号。
“她已经表演了一段时间了，我们要看看亚利桑那州的选民是否会接受，”杜西说在CNN周日的“国情咨文”节目中。"卡莉·莱克在没有证据的情况下误导选民。"
作为共和党州长协会的主席，Ducey拒绝透露如果她在8月2日赢得初选，RGA是否会在大选中支持Lake，尽管该组织历来不参与公开的初选。
“我们在进攻，但我们不支持失败的事业，”他说，并补充说，他还没有将任何共和党候选人归为“失败的事业”一类。
Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey gives his state of the state address at the Arizona Capitol, Jan. 10, 2022, in Phoenix.
罗斯·富兰克林/美联社，文件
现任国务卿凯蒂·霍布斯(Katie Hobbs)的竞选经理尼科尔·德蒙特(Nicole DeMont)周一在美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的一份声明中对彭斯的支持做出回应，称他们的潜在对手是“说客Karrin Taylor Robson”和“MAGA Kari Lake”，她说这些人“专注于他们的初选，而霍布斯“正在努力让亚利桑那州人团结起来，解决我们最大的挑战”，如通货膨胀，确保堕胎和公共教育。
共和党内明显的分裂不仅限于州长竞选。
在亚利桑那州的国务卿竞选中，Ducey上周再次与特朗普决裂，他支持广告高管Beau Lane反对特朗普的选择，州众议员Mark Finchem称Lane是“不能被欺负的人”。
与其他共和党候选人相反，包括Finchem，州参议员Michelle Ugenti Rita和州众议员Shawnna Bolick，Lane不同意2020年选举被盗的观点，并表示他很高兴获得Ducey的支持。
另一方面，芬奇姆1月6日在华盛顿，尽管他说他没有进入国会大厦，他是亚利桑那州30名共和党议员之一，他们签署了一项联合决议，呼吁国会接受特朗普的“备用”选举人票。调查国会大厦袭击的众议院特别委员会给Finchem发了传票今年早些时候，“有关向华盛顿发送虚假选举人名单并改变2020年选举结果的信息”
自去年以来，这位极右翼议员一再吹捧特朗普的支持，最近在推特上吹嘘说，他是杜塞“不”支持的候选人，因为特朗普支持的候选人试图与那些不受特朗普青睐的人保持距离。他和莱克已经做好了准备，如果他们没有获胜，就称他们的初选是“被操纵的”。
住在凤凰城、投票给罗布森的马森警告说，如果莱克真的赢得初选，共和党人在大选中与霍布斯的竞争将更加艰难。
“卡莉湖体现了特朗普经验。在电视上很有名，一个前自由主义者一夜之间变成了保守派，并为共和党的极右翼基础注入了活力。她采用了特朗普的剧本，并试图在亚利桑那州全国范围内复制特朗普的做法——但特朗普在亚利桑那州输掉了2020年，”他说。“莱克试图复制这种策略并不成功。也许这是初选的策略——我们将在两周内发现这一点——但这绝对不是大选的获胜策略。”
Trump, Pence to host dueling campaign events in Arizona governor's race
In a dramatic midterm split-screen, former President Donald Trump and his former Vice President Mike Pence will hold dueling campaign events this weekend in Arizona as Trump seeks revenge in the battleground he narrowly lost to President Joe Biden, a state thatserved as ground zeroto perpetuate his "big lie."
Pence's endorsement Monday of Karrin Taylor Robson, a wealthy GOP donor and former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, over Kari Lake, a former Fox 10 Phoenix anchor whom Trump endorsed last fall, marks the latest break between the two leaders, both with 2024 aspirations, who were close the entirety of their administration -- until Pence wouldn't submit to Trump's pressure campaign to intervene to overturn the 2020 election.
In hisstatement, Pence called Robson "the best choice for Arizona's future" and candidate to "promote conservative values," mirroring language from Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, term-limited to run again, supporting Robson one day after early voting started. Ducey has called Robson "the real conservative" in the race.
While it's unclear if Ducey will join him, Pence is expected to hold at least one event for Robson on Friday, while Trump rallies for his candidates in Prescott. The details of Pence's plans are still being worked out, a source familiar told ABC News.
A slate of Trump endorsees who espouse his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, without evidence, are running for statewide offices in charge of overseeing and certifying elections in the state,raising concerns about election integritywithin the Republican Party -- the very issue those Trump-backed candidates claim to be running on. The former president's rally with them, rescheduled from last Saturday due to the death of his ex-wife, Ivana Trump, now comes one day after the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack will hold a prime-time hearing to lay out the timeline of Trump's actions on Jan. 6.
"This is a battle for the soul of the Republican Party in Arizona," Barrett Marson, a GOP strategist in Arizona, told ABC News on Monday.
But he offered a caveat to Trump and Pence coming to town just 10 days before the primary election on Aug. 2.
"The thing to really note in Arizona is that we are early voters, and so the impact of both the Trump and Pence endorsements are a bit muted," he said.
As of last Friday, 253,000 ballots have been returned early in the state with about 26,500 more votes in the Democratic primary than the Republican, according toUplift Data, which pulls reporting from the Arizona Democratic Party Voter File and Arizona County recorders.
What has made a difference in Arizona's gubernatorial race is State Rep. Matt Salmon dropping out of the race in June, a week before early voting began in an apparent effort to consolidate votes around Robson. Salmon has criticized Lake for a handful of hypocrisy scandals, such as having donated in the past to Democratic candidates in the past. Since he left the race, Robson has seen a boost in polling, though Lake still holds a narrow lead.
Back in May, in their first majorcollision of the 2022 midterm cycle, the former vice president last held a rally counter to Trump ahead of Georgia's gubernatorial primary, breaking from Trump to stump for incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp beat David Perdue, the former senator Trump recruited, and soared to victory without a runoff -- dealing a blow to Trump's endorsement power which will be tested again in Arizona in two weeks.
The ongoing endorsements highlight the midterm divide between Trump and the Republican Party.
Pence's endorsement of Robson on Monday follows endorsements from former Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, an ABC News Contributor, as well as Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who, with presidential aspirations of his own, has said he does not think Trump should be the Republican nominee in 2024.
Ducey, also under Trump's ire since certifying Biden's victory (and infamously sending Trump to voicemail while doing it), has come out swinging against Lake, casting her campaign as "all an act" and using the nickname "Fake Lake."
"She's been putting on a show for some time now, and we'll see if the voters of Arizona by it,"Ducey saidon CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday. "Kari Lake's misleading voters with no evidence."
As chair of the Republican Governors Association, Ducey refused to say whether the RGA would support Lake in the general election if she wins the primary on Aug. 2, though the organization historically does not get involved in open primary races.
"We're on offense, but we don't support lost causes," he said, adding that he doesn't classify any Republican candidates in the "lost cause" category yet.
Nicole DeMont, campaign manager to current Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the likely Democratic nominee for governor, in a statement to ABC News on Monday reacting to Pence's endorsement, referred to their potential opponents as "Lobbyist Karrin Taylor Robson" and "MAGA Kari Lake," who she said "are focused on their primary race to the bottom," while Hobbs "is working to bring Arizonans together to solve our biggest challenges," such as inflation, securing abortion access and public education.
The apparent schism in the GOP is not limited to races for governor.
In Arizona's secretary of state race, Ducey, again, broke from Trump last week with his endorsement of advertising executive Beau Lane against Trump's pick, State Rep. Mark Finchem, calling Lane someone who "can't be bullied."
As opposed to other GOP candidates, including Finchem, State Sen. Michelle Ugenti Rita and State Rep. Shawnna Bolick, Lane does not subscribe to the belief that the 2020 election was stolen and has said he's pleased to have Ducey's support.
Finchem, on the other hand, was in Washington on Jan. 6, though he says he did not enter the Capitol, and was among 30 GOP lawmakers in Arizona who signed a joint resolution calling on Congress to accept an "alternate" slate of electoral votes for Trump.The House select committee investigating the Capitol attackissued Finchem a subpoenaearlier this year for "information about efforts to send false slates of electors to Washington and change the outcome of the 2020 election."
The far-right lawmaker has repeatedly touted Trump's endorsement since last year and recently boasted on Twitter that he's the candidate "NOT" endorsed by Ducey, as Trump-backed candidates seek to distance themselves from those not in Trump's good graces. He and Lake have laid the groundwork to call their primary races "rigged" if they do not win.
Marson, who lives in Phoenix and is voting for Robson, warned that if Lake does win the primary, Republicans will have a harder time in the general election against Hobbs.
"Kari Lake embodies the Trump experience. Famous on TV, a former liberal who became a conservative overnight and energized the far-right base of the Republican Party. She has taken the Trump playbook and tried to replicate what Trump did nationally in Arizona -- but Trump lost 2020 in Arizona," he said. "Lake trying to replicate that isn't a winning strategy. Maybe it is for the primary -- we'll find that out in two weeks -- but it is definitely not a winning strategy for the general election."
