A Republican in Arizona’s largest county threatened to “lynch” the county’s top elections official during a public event three months ago, according to a newly discovered video clip circulating on social media.
Election official Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer posted a video of the comment to X on Monday. In it, Maricopa Republican Party Vice Chairman Shelby Busch takes aim at one of Richer’s re-election campaign opponents and calls him a “good Christian man.” She then contrasts him with Richer, who is Jewish.
“If Stephen Richer walked into this room, I would lynch him,” Busch says in the video. “I do not unite with people who do not believe in the principles we believe in and the American cause that founded this country.”
In a statement to POLITICO on Tuesday, Busch said the comment “was a joke.”
“Everyone knows I don’t like Richer,” Busch wrote. “The statement was a joke and made in jest. I do not and would never tolerate violence against anyone. It was an exaggeration.
The remark was made during a March 20 campaign event in Mesa, Arizona, for Republican Jerone Davison, who is running for a U.S. House seat and was the first streamed live on the conservative social media platform Rumble. Davison on Monday defended Busch in the X as a “woman of faith” and said she did not express “any type of racial hatred”.
“No one ever knew or cared whether you were Jewish or not,” Davison wrote to Richer.
Richer became aware of Busch’s video commentary over the weekend. He told POLITICO that he has not received any outreach or apology from her since the video was posted online.
“I don’t think the word lynching should be in your vocabulary,” Richer said in an interview Tuesday, emphasizing that Busch’s sentiment should not be supported by the Republican Party.
Busch’s comments drew condemnation from the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix, which noted that Richer is Jewish and condemned “extremists” in X for amplifying “his hatred of the Jews.”
Richer’s opponent, who Busch singled out as a “good Christian” at the event, Don Hiatt, did not respond to a request for comment.
Busch’s comments come amid intensifying rhetoric against election officials in Arizona, who have been “in the crosshairs” of ongoing threats, the state U.S. Attorney’s Office said. said earlier this year. Busch is an activist with We the People AZ Alliance, a conservative group that has falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and that it was quoted in the past by Senate candidate Kari Lake. Richer has worked publicly to combat conspiracy theories about Arizona’s elections, including through an alliance with the state’s Democratic secretary of state.
Richer noted that Busch’s rhetoric was especially sensitive in Maricopa County after an Iowa man was arrested last year after threatening to lynch the county’s Republican supervisor because he failed to investigate false claims of voter fraud.
Busch’s remarks, Richer said, underscore how public officials need to be aware of how what they consider a “joke” or “hyperbole” can spread online.
“Your words have reach and impact,” he added.
This story originally appeared on Politico.com read the full story
