(Headline USA) Republican U.S. Reps. Marjorie Greene and Matt Gaetz told a crowd of Trump supporters in the Phoenix area that an ongoing audit of the 2020 election in Arizona should be replicated in all the battleground states where President Donald Trump lost.
Greene and Gaetz took their “America First Rally” tour to Arizona to cheer the audit, which is testing the validity of the election on behalf of Republicans in the state Senate.
“We are here in Arizona to stand in solidarity with the Arizona election audit,” Gaetz said to a cheering crowd of several hundred supporters Friday night in Mesa.
He expressed hope that the Arizona effort will be just the beginning of a larger movement.
“It’s my belief that Arizona will be the launch pad for elections audits and election integrity efforts all over this great country,” he added.
State Senate Republicans used their subpoena power to take possession of a wide range of equipment and documents in Maricopa County from the 2020 election, including all 2.1 million ballots and the machines that counted them.
Everything was handed over to a group of companies led by Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based cybersecurity consultant.
The audit won’t change the election results, but many Trump fans think it could turn up evidence supporting claims of fraud.
“Who do you think won Arizona on Nov 3?” Greene said. The crowd responded with chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump.”
Both Gaetz and Greene drew thunderous applause when denouncing mask and vaccine mandates as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top public health official.
Gaetz has been the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation and may face escalating legal and political liability after an associate pleaded guilty Monday in a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. Gaetz, who has denied wrongdoing, did not address the allegations Friday but started his speech by telling the crowd, “thank you for having my back.”
Gaetz and Greene presented themselves as the allies of Trump fans in a contentious conflict with not just the Democrats but with much of the GOP.
“Just because you have an ‘R’ by your name and you say things doesn’t mean you’ll do them when you run the country,” Greene said. “This is why so many people don’t vote. They don’t trust Republicans to do the job.”
Pundits like to talk about a “civil war” in the GOP between traditional conservatives who dominated the party before Trump’s election and populist Trump fans, Gaetz said.
“The civil war is over,” Gaetz said. “We’ve won.”
The crowd erupted in chants of “USA, USA.”
Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.
