Far right Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers with some fans, enthusiastic and otherwise, at “The Trumped Store” in Show Low.
This shitshow in the Arizona GOP is insane and best presented in a straight line: Republican Arizona state Representative Walter Blackman is a far right Army combat veteran and, uh, his surname is literal. Like if convicted felon President Donald Trump was instead named Donald Orangeman. Not relevant to the story, but a side laugh to a ridiculous tale of MAGA-on-MAGA rhetorical violence.
Blackman, first elected to the 6th District in 2018, is now in the 7th and technically a freshman again, having taken 2023 and 2024 off after coming in second in the 2022 2nd US House District GOP primary to neckbeard now-Congressman Eli Crane, the really creepy former Navy SEAL Freedom Caucasian who Trump endorsed over Blackman and Ron Watkins, the “brain” behind QAnon, and four others. Crane of course won because he was Trump’s chosen endorsee – the “real race” that Blackman was probably disqualified from for the sin of saying it was constitutionally impossible to decertify the 2020 election. The Gateway Pundit then attacked him as a “RINO,” after which Blackman’s daughter was harassed with text messages from some MAGA terrorists who wrote, among other hateful shit, “Your [n-word] dad is RINO.” And this wasn’t like Blackman wasn’t all “Stop the Steal” after the 2020 election or praised the Proud Boys at a 2022 rally. He’s pretty MAGA.