The Arizona Republican Party is facing backlash after asking supporters if they're prepared to give up their lives to help overturn election results.
As pointed out by AZCentral, the state's GOP group posed the question via Twitter on Monday night, when responding to a tweet by Republican activist Ali Alexander, a leader of the pro-Donald Trump "Stop the Steal" movement. Its followers have conducted multiple rallies across the country, claiming POTUS was cheated out of a consecutive term through so-called "voter fraud." Trump and has team have consistently pushed false claims to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 election results. The Trump campaign has also pursued legal action in a several battleground states—including Arizona—in an effort to overturn the results that favored president-elect Joe Biden.
"I am willing to give up my life for this fight," Alexander wrote.
The Arizona GOP's verified Twitter account quote-tweeted Alexander's message with the question: "He is. Are you?"
According to AZCentral, the official account followed up the question with a video clip from the 2008 movie Rambo. The video shows the titular character, played by Sylvester Stallone, stating: "This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something." That tweet has since been deleted.
Arizona's Republican governor, Doug Ducey, seemingly responded to the controversial tweet on Wednesday. He didn't specifically mention the state's GOP, but emphasized that the Republicans are "the party of the Constitution and the rule of law."
Political figures and constituents, from both sides of the aisle, have criticized the Arizona Republican Party for suggesting people should put their lives on the line for Trump and a debunked conspiracy theory. Many also slammed the tweet as veiled call for political violence.
"If you guys need me to jump in and take over your twitter account for the day so you're not nationally trending for embarrassing reasons, I'm here," Meghan McCain tweeted in response to the Arizona Republican Party.
"You're asking people to die for this conspiracy theory?" wrote Arizona State Sen. Martín Quezada (D-Maryvale). "What in the living hell is wrong with you people?"
You can check out other responses to the Arizona GOP tweet below.
