亚利桑那州皮奥里亚-前总统唐纳德·特朗普和他疏远的副总统迈克·彭斯周五在亚利桑那州举行了竞争对手的竞选活动，将州长竞选变成了对共和党未来的更广泛的公投。
特朗普和彭斯都谈到了他们政府的成功，并抨击了总统乔·拜登，但都没有直接谈到对方或他们之间日益扩大的分歧。
彭斯本周将自己的名字加入了越来越多支持房地产开发商卡林·泰勒·罗布森(Karrin Taylor Robson)的共和党建制派人物名单，他对共和党人仍在推动特朗普因欺诈而失败的谎言提出了间接批评。
彭斯说，如果你选择罗布森，“你可以向全美国发出一个震耳欲聋的信息，即共和党是最强大的聚会关于未来。"
他后来在推特上更加直接:“有些人想要这个选举关于过去，但是选举s总是关于未来。民主党人最希望共和党人把我们的注意力从球上移开，专注于过去的日子。"
罗布森表示，2020年的选举“不公平”，指责“自由派法官”在周期后期改变规则，媒体和大型科技压制保守派的声音。但她没有说特朗普是因为欺诈才落选的。
她的主要竞争对手、前电视主播卡莉·莱克(Kari Lake)接受了特朗普的选举谎言，以及他对政敌和媒体的好斗态度。
“没有人比卡莉更了解如何反击假新闻媒体和激进的左派，”特朗普周五晚上在亚利桑那州最保守的地区之一普雷斯科特谷举行的集会上说。
特朗普瞄准了两名亚利桑那州共和党人，他们在输给拜登后拒绝配合他继续留任的努力。他说，上个月向众议院1月6日委员会作证的州众议院议长拉斯蒂·鲍尔斯“参与了反对共和党的活动。”他说，州长道格·杜西未能确保与墨西哥的边境安全。
罗布森是一名律师和房地产开发商，他正在锁定主流共和党人物的支持，这些人越来越适应与特朗普决裂。除了彭斯，她的支持者还包括前新泽西州长克里斯·克里斯蒂和任期有限的州长道格·杜西(Doug Ducey)，后者在证明民主党人乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在亚利桑那州获得2020年总统大选胜利时，曾因静音而闻名。
莱克上电视，几十年来一直在凤凰城主持晚间新闻，已经非常出名，这激发了特朗普在亚利桑那州最热情的支持者。但她面临着与罗布森的潜在激烈竞争，罗布森家族的巨额财富使她在提前投票中大大超过了雷克。
“作为你们的州长，我想把这些美国第一的特朗普政策带到亚利桑那州，”莱克说。“我们将确保边境安全。我们将在选举中恢复诚实和信任。”
彭斯强调了莱克过去对巴拉克·奥巴马总统竞选的支持，以及当时的新闻主播在特朗普准备2017年就职典礼时发布的“不是我的总统”的模因。
“你需要一位支持从罗纳德·里根到唐纳德·特朗普的每一项保守事业的州长，”彭斯谈到罗布森时说，罗布森曾在里根政府工作，并与她的丈夫、住房开发商埃德·罗布森一起为特朗普的竞选筹款，罗布森是亚利桑那州最富有的居民之一。
罗布森还向民主党人捐款。
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罗布森、彭斯和杜西还在图森边境巡逻联盟总部举行的第二次活动中讨论了边境安全问题，该联盟坚定支持特朗普，但与他决裂并支持罗布森。
罗布森说:“保护边境需要两样东西:资源和意志力。”“特朗普总统和彭斯副总统已经表明这是可以做到的。”
特朗普和彭斯在今年的初选中偶尔会采取不同的立场，但这是他们第一次在同一天出现在同一个州，为他们喜欢的候选人造势。这一分屏时刻标志着他们的关系进入了一个更具对抗性的阶段，因为他们都考虑在2024年竞选总统。
就在一天前，众议院1月6日的委员会披露了美国国会大厦暴力暴动的新细节，导致两人关系破裂。该委员会讲述了特朗普如何拒绝取消袭击国会大厦的暴徒，因为离暴徒仅几英尺远的彭斯被迅速带到安全地带。
委员会播放了一名身份不明的白宫安全官员的音频，他说彭斯的特勤局特工在国会大厦“开始担心自己的生命”，并给他们的亲人留言，以防他们无法幸存。此后不久，在2021年1月6日下午2点24分，特朗普在推特上说，彭斯没有“勇气”阻止或推迟选举结果，因为国会正在认证拜登的胜利。
“迈克·彭斯让我失望了，”一名身份不明的白宫雇员作证说，特朗普在1月6日结束时告诉他。
特朗普周五晚上没有谈到彭斯，但对前白宫助手卡西迪·哈钦森早些时候的证词进行了反驳，哈钦森说，在愤怒的特朗普打碎了一个盘子和他在墙上的午餐残渣后，她看到一名白宫贴身男仆正在收拾残局。
“他们让我扔食物，”特朗普说。“我不在白宫扔食物。我不随地扔食物。我吃食物。”
特朗普和彭斯下周将再次相遇，因为这位前总统自离开白宫以来首次返回美国首都。
亚利桑那州的初选是特朗普清算旧账和安置盟友领导各州的最后机会之一，如果他决定在2024年再次竞选，这些机会可能会被证明是决定性的。特朗普和彭斯在佐治亚州州长初选中也有分歧，彭斯支持的现任参议员布莱恩·坎普(Brian Kemp)轻松击败了特朗普支持的前美国参议员大卫·珀杜。
亚利桑那州是共和党的长期大本营，在特朗普担任总统期间，该州向中心的移动加速，是特朗普尽管失败但仍保持权力的核心。特朗普敦促州官员阻止对拜登胜利的认证，当他失败时，他在国会的盟友反对计算该州的11张选举人票。
自选举以来，特朗普的支持者重新计算了选票，并分析了计票机，试图证明有些地方出了问题。
联邦和州选举官员以及特朗普自己的司法部长表示，没有可信的证据表明选举受到了污染。特朗普的欺诈指控也遭到法院的断然拒绝，包括特朗普任命的法官。
Trump, Pence campaign for rivals in Ariz. governor's race
PEORIA, Ariz. -- Former President Donald Trump and his estranged vice president, Mike Pence, held rival campaign events in Arizona on Friday, turning the governor's race into a broader referendum on the Republican Party's future.
Trump and Pence both talked up the successes of their administration and hammered President Joe Biden, but neither directly addressed the other or the growing rift between them.
Pence, who this week added his name to a growing list of GOP establishment figures endorsing housing developer Karrin Taylor Robson, offered only an oblique critique of the Republicans still pushing the lie that Trump lost because of fraud.
If you elect Robson, Pence said, “you can send a deafening message heard all across America that the Republican Party is the party of the future.”
He was more direct later on Twitter: “Some people want this election to be about the past, but elections are always about the future. Democrats would love nothing more than for Republicans to take our eye off the ball and focus on days gone by.”
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Robson says the 2020 elections “weren't fair," accusing “liberal judges” of changing the rules late in the cycle and the media and big tech of suppressing conservative voices. But she has stopped short of saying Trump lost because of fraud.
Her main rival, former television anchor Kari Lake, has embraced Trump’s election lies along with his combative approach to his political enemies and the media.
“No one understands better than Kari how to fight back against the fake news media and the radical left,” Trump said Friday evening during his own rally in Prescott Valley, one of the most conservative areas of Arizona.
Trump took aim at two Arizona Republicans who refused to go along with his efforts to remain in office after losing to Biden. He said state House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified last month to the House Jan. 6 committee, "participated against the Republican Party.” He said Gov. Doug Ducey has failed to secure the border with Mexico.
Robson is a lawyer and housing developer who is locking up support from mainstream GOP figures growing increasingly comfortable with breaking from Trump. In addition to Pence, her supporters include former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and term-limited Gov. Doug Ducey, who famously silenced a call from Trump while certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory in Arizona.
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Telegenic and already well-known from her decades anchoring the evening news in Phoenix, Lake has energized Trump's most ardent supporters in Arizona. But she faces a potentially close contest with Robson, whose family's vast fortune has allowed her to vastly outspend Lake with early voting underway.
“As your governor I want to bring those America First Trump policies here to Arizona” Lake said. “We’re going to secure that border. We are going to restore honesty and faith in our elections.”
Pence highlighted Lake's past support for Barack Obama's presidential campaign and a “not my president” meme the then-news anchor posted as Trump prepared for his 2017 inauguration.
“You need a governor that’s supported every conservative cause from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump,” Pence said of Robson, who worked in the Reagan administration and raised money for Trump's campaign along with her husband, housing developer Ed Robson, one of Arizona's wealthiest residents.
Robson has also donated to Democrats.
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Robson, Pence and Ducey also discussed border security during a second event in Tucson at the headquarters for the Border Patrol union, which staunchly supported Trump but broke with him and endorsed Robson.
“Securing the border takes two things: resources and will power,” Robson said. “President Trump and Vice President Pence already showed that it can be done.”
Trump and Pence have occasionally taken different sides in primaries this year, but this is the first time that they will have appeared in the same state on the same day to rally for their preferred candidates. The split-screen moment marks a more confrontational phase in their relationship as they both consider running for president in 2024.
It also comes just a day after the House Jan. 6 committee revealed new details about the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that fractured the relationship between the two men. The committee recounted how Trump refused to call off the mob attacking the Capitol as Pence, just feet away from rioters, was whisked to safety.
The committee played audio from an unidentified White House security official who said Pence’s Secret Service agents “started to fear for their own lives” at the Capitol and left messages for their loved ones in case they didn't survive. Shortly afterward, at 2:24 p.m. on Jan, 6, 2021, Trump tweeted that Pence didn’t have the “courage” to block or delay the election results as Congress was certifying Biden’s victory.
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“Mike Pence let me down,” an unidentified White House employee testified Trump telling him at the end of the day on Jan. 6.
Trump did not talk about Pence Friday night, but did push back against earlier testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who said she saw a White House valet cleaning up a mess after an angry Trump smashed a plate and the remains of his lunch on a wall.
“They have me throwing food,” Trump said. “I don’t throw food in the White House. I don’t throw food anywhere. I eat the food.”
Trump and Pence will again cross paths next week as the former president returns to the nation’s capital for the first time since leaving the White House.
The Arizona primary is among Trump’s last opportunities to settle scores and install allies to lead states that may prove decisive if he decides to run again in 2024. Trump and Pence were also at odds in the primary for Georgia governor, where the Pence-backed incumbent Brian Kemp easily defeated former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who had Trump’s support.
Arizona, a longtime Republican stronghold whose move toward the center accelerated during Trump's presidency, was central Trump's push to remain in power despite his loss. Trump pressed state officials to block the certification of Biden's victory and, when he failed, his allies in Congress objected to counting the state's 11 electoral votes.
Since the election, Trump supporters have recounted ballots and analyzed vote-counting machines in an attempt to prove something was amiss.
Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general have said there is no credible evidence the election was tainted. Trump's allegations of fraud were also roundly rejected by courts, including by judges Trump appointed.
