In her attempts to court Republican voters, Sinema herself twists the truth and denies the GOP’s role in election fraud, despite “groundless” election audits costing AZ taxpayers millions
In an interview on Friday in Sedona, CBS News’ Margaret Brennan asked Kyrsten Sinema about the spread of misinformation and the rampant election denialism spearheaded by the Republican Party, both in Arizona and nationwide. Sinema’s answer? Both Democrats and Republicans are “twisting stories to create their own narratives.”
Sinema did little to nothing to help Gov. Katie Hobbs defeat election-denier Kari Lake in last year’s governor’s race. Now she’s using both-sidesism to siphon the blame to Democrats and not Lake, who has put Arizona through a yearlong charade in her attempts to deny the election outcome. This is in addition to the AZ GOP billing Arizona taxpayers millions for their failed audit into the 2020 election, which a Maricopa judge called “groundless” and “disingenuous.”
Despite Mitch McConnell agreeing that Sinema won’t be joining the Republican party, this seems like an attempt to court GOP voters as she considers how badly she could lose this 2024 race.
Read more below.
ICYMI:
Business Insider: Kyrsten Sinema, eyeing GOP voters, knocks ‘both political parties’ when asked about election deniers in Arizona
Bryan Metzger // May 8, 2023
Asked why so many in Arizona did not believe in the legitimacy of the state’s elections, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema blamed a broad “climate” of untruth driven by “members of both political parties.”
[…]
“Well, we’re currently living in a climate where it’s okay to say things that aren’t true,” Sinema said. “Which is crazy, right?”
Arizona has been a hotbed for election denial since former President Donald Trump and his political allies disputed President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state — later seeking to overturn the results entirely. Kari Lake, a former television broadcaster, ran for governor explicitly on an election denialist message, only narrowly losing to current Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
[…]
On Friday, Sinema initially argued that media consumption is a key contributor to election denial and mistrust in elections — before arguing that both Democrats are Republicans are “twisting stories to create their own narratives.”
“What I think we’re facing in our country today is this situation where people don’t know what’s true and what’s not true,” said Sinema. “People aren’t sure what’s fact and what’s fiction. And part of that, frankly, is because much of the media that we consume isn’t actual news. It’s opinion.”
“So when people are confusing opinion or media with news or journalism, then the lines get very blurry,” she added. “Unfortunately, what’s happening in our public discourse is members of both political parties are twisting stories to create their own narratives, which may or may not be true, and we see it every day.”
Brennan then pressed Sinema on the issue, alluding to candidates like Lake and 2022 GOP Senate nominee Blake Masters, who also argued that the 2020 election had been stolen: “We’re not just talking about media silos, you’re talking about people who are running for public office,” the CBS News host noted.
Huffington Post: Kyrsten Sinema On Election Denialism: ‘Both Political Parties Are Twisting Stories‘
Arthur Delaney // May 8, 2023
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) blames the media and “both political parties” for voters’ lack of trust in elections.
Sinema, who recently left the Democratic Party and is now an independent, said Sunday that all
Americans need to “do the work” to make sure they have accurate information about the world around them.
“Because unfortunately, what’s happening in our public discourse is members of both political parties are twisting stories to create their own narratives,” Sinema said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Contrary to Sinema’s suggestion that election denialism is bipartisan, members of the Republican Party have done far more than Democrats to sow distrust in voting systems and election results.
Former President Donald Trump, in fact, has made false claims about the supposedly “rigged” 2020 election the centerpiece of his campaign for the Republican nomination in 2024.
If Sinema decides to run for reelection ― she hasn’t formally announced her plans yet ― she would need Republican votes in order to prevail in a likely three-way race for her Senate seat. So her false assessment of the public discourse around elections may reflect an effort on her part not to alienate her coalition.
Arizona has seen some of the country’s most extreme election denialist politics. Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, for instance, still maintains that she actually won in November.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who is challenging Sinema as a Democrat, called the senator’s answer pathetic.
“We have election officials in Arizona that have been stalked and suffering from PTSD and this is her answer,” Gallego said on Twitter. “When in doubt Sinema always resorts to a noun, a verb and both sides as an answer.”
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“One of the unfortunate things that’s happening in Arizona, and we see this in other parts of the country as well, is that the two political parties have gotten more and more extreme,” she said. “They’re going towards the fringes because that’s where the money is, and that’s where the attention is, and that’s where the likes on Twitter are, and that’s where you get the clicks and the accolades.”
Sinema spoke only in generalities, offering no examples of Republican or Democratic extremism. Instead, she described herself as someone who can work with both parties, noting she has been a key member of bipartisan negotiations on gun control, infrastructure, and reforming the Electoral Count Act.
“I hope that that demonstrates to Arizona and to America that our system works better when we put down the partisanship, when we seek to find the common ground,” Sinema said.