Donald Trump held a rally in Arizona on Saturday in which he called out anyone who questioned his claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
There are small signs that some Republicans are tiring of the charade, 2,000 miles to the east in Washington. The senator from South Dakota, Mike Rounds, was perhaps the boldest in acknowledging that the election was fair. He was supported by his GOP colleagues. Rounds said that the party needed to tell the truth about the 2020 campaign.
Top Republicans in Washington are trying to get Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to run for a Senate seat. Glenn Youngkin became the first Republican since 2010 to be sworn in as Virginia's governor after running a campaign that kept Trump at arm's length.
Less than two months before the primary season begins, Trump remains the most popular figure among the voters who will decide which Republicans advance to the fall general election. The recent dynamics bring clarity to the debate about how closely candidates should align themselves with Trump.
Chris Christie, a Republican who has been urging the party to move on from Trump, said he was encouraged by the response from a number of different senators.
There is no evidence to support Trump's claim that the election was stolen. The idea was rejected by the elections officials and his attorney general. The judges appointed by the former president dismissed Trump's arguments.
Dissent from Trump's election lie is rare in the GOP. Candidates running for Senate, governor, and attorney general have embraced Trump's lies as they have tried to win over his base or distract him. In Arizona Saturday night, Trump-endorsed candidates lied about the election being stolen and Trump was elected president.
In the short term, such positioning may help Republican candidates in crowded primary fields. There are concerns that it could hurt the party in the fall, especially among suburban voters who have become more decisive in recent campaigns. It is easier for Democrats to portray Republicans as extreme in a general election if they go further to the right.
When candidates look back, they don't attack President Joe Biden, who is seen as particularly vulnerable due to rising inflation and coronaviruses.
Chris DeRose, a Republican attorney and former clerk of the superior court in Arizona, said that it's one of the issues that's popular in a primary.
He said that candidates were courting the former president by expressing skepticism about the 2020 election.
He said that Donald Trump was the most sought-after endorsement among Republican candidates. That can make a difference in a Republican primary.
John Shimkus, a Republican and former Illinois congressman, said it was easy for armchair quarterbacks who weren't on the ballot to judge candidates doing what they can to win their primaries.
All the races will be highlighted on Fox. These candidates have to be very careful. They have to win the primary to win the general.
There is a clear risk in Arizona's Senate race. The state should be a pickup for Republicans in a year when they are favored, and some in the party are eager for Gov. Doug Ducey to enter the race against Mark Kelly. Trump's attacks on Ducey could make it hard for him to win a GOP primary.
Before his trip, Trump issued a statement that he would not endorse the governor. He continued to rail against him at the rally, which was dominated by his grievances over the election that was held more than 14 months ago.
Trump said that he was a disaster. cey has been a terrible representative of your state.
If the Republicans win in Arizona and other important races, they will have to convince voters that they should participate in an election system that Trump has spent years deriding as rigged.
Many Republicans blame Trump for the party's loss of control of the Senate in Georgia in 2021, arguing that he depressed turnout by making the voting system less reliable. Further investigation is the only way to instill confidence in future elections according to Trump.
Charlie Dent, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, said that Trump still has an outsized voice and influence. Donald Trump will use his megaphone to condemn those who don't buy his lies and his false narrative on the 2020 election. If these candidates tell the truth, they run the risk of losing their primaries, and if they acquiesce and go along with this nonsense, they run the risk of alienating a lot of voters.
Despite what happened in Georgia, DeRose has no concern that the issue will depress turnout.
He said that the Republican base was enthusiastic and that turnout would be the same as in 2010. He said that things aren't going well in this country and that you're going to see an enormous blowback.
Others disagreed. Barbara Comstock, a Trump critic and former GOP congresswoman from Virginia, warned that Republicans risked nominating fringe candidates who would go on to lose in the general election.
Republicans feel like they will win even if they have a different ticket. She pointed to Ohio, where Senate candidates have been trying to out-Trump one another. You are taking a chance in blowing reliable races.
In Florence, Arizona, a Republican stronghold about 70 miles southeast of Phoenix, Trump remained fixated on the issue. It's the first of what aides say will be a brisker pace of Trump events. The March 1 primary formally kicks off the campaign for the upcoming elections, and Trump will be holding another rally in Texas in January.
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Stephen was a writer for the Associated Press in Pierre.
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