Arizona Republican blistered as a ‘traitor’ in local newspaper: ‘Own it’

Republican Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem was blasted in a hard-hitting column by Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic on Monday.

Roberts wrote that Finchem, "has been screaming about fraud in Arizona's election for months, howling to 'stop the steal' despite eight failed lawsuits and a complete lack of any actual evidence that the fix was in."

Finchem traveled to Washington, DC for the January 6th effort to overturn the election that culminated in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

During the riots, Finchem posted a photo defending the insurrection by pushing conspiracy theories about "rampant fraud."

"Finchem did, however, justify the violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying the results of the election, something that earned him an ethics complaint filed last week by a Democratic state legislator," Roberts explained. "Now, it seems, Finchem is mad that actions have consequences. Specifically, that Loews Hotels has cancelled a fundraiser for Sen. Josh Hawley at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando."

"Hawley is one of the poster boys of the Jan. 6 attack on democracy. For two months, the Missouri Republican never missed an opportunity to ratchet up anger over Biden's supposed theft of the election, spreading the baseless conspiracy theories relentlessly pitched by people like Finchem and state GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward — that Arizona's vote (and thus, America's vote) had been stolen from President Donald Trump," Roberts noted.

The columnist explained how Hawley has become toxic following his efforts to overturn the election.

"Now, nobody wants to be anywhere near this guy," she noted. "Both of Missouri's major newspapers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star, have called on him to resign. The Star said Hawley "has blood on his hands" and is the second-most-culpable person for the attacks. Former Missouri Sen. John Danforth called his support to help Hawley get elected in 2018 "the worst mistake I ever made in my life". Kansas City-based Hallmark sent Hawley a nice card, asking him to refund its campaign contributions. Simon & Schuster has canceled the upcoming publication of Hawley's book, The Tyranny of Big Tech."

Yet Finchem didn't criticize Hawley for inciting insurrection, instead criticizing Loews Resorts for distancing itself from the controversial GOP senator.

Finchem urged the boycott of the company even though Loews Ventana Resort is in his legislative district.

Roberts ridiculed Finchem for his tweet.

"Yeah, patriots, because the first step toward genocide is always the cancellation of a resort hotel reservation. You can drop the whole victim thng (sic), Rep. Finchem (and Sen. Hawley). No one is cancelling your right to be exactly who you are," she wrote. "Despite how far-right zealots so desperately want to frame it, this isn't the cancel culture run amok. These are American companies making a statement, as is their right, that if you support or justify insurrection then you're not a patriot. You're a traitor. Own it, sirs."

This is not the first time Finchem has spread lies in an attempted to rationalize Trump-incited violence.

In 2018, Finchem pushed conspiracy theories about the so-called "MAGABomber," denying that the terrorism spree was real. At the time, it was reported that Finchem was a member of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia organization.