Rachel Maddow Says Arizona’s ‘Far-Right’ Using ‘Open Carry Privilege’ As ‘Political Intimidation’

 MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow alleged Tuesday that the “far-right” in Arizona is using “open carry privilege” to politically intimidate their political opponents.

Maddow claimed that the “far-right” has used “open carry” to achieve electoral victories in recent elections. The state is currently facing tight Senate and gubernatorial elections.

“When we talk about stuff like this focused on Arizona, because of our experience there in 2020 and what we saw in the big counting sites in Arizona, one of the things we have to think about is that it is an open carry state and a lot of the far-right in Arizona has been willing to use their open carry privilege as a form of political intimidation,” Maddow said.

NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins responded that “people associated with Steve Bannon” were surrounding the ballot drop boxes to “intimidate” people. He added that the “far-right” believes they can subvert the outcomes of an election, despite how people voted. 

A conservative group reportedly monitored drop boxes for voter fraud in the weeks prior to the midterm elections, The Guardian reported. Melody Jennings, who runs Clean Elections USA, told Bannon on his podcast, “War Room,” that her organization partnered with True the Vote to keep an eye out for drop box fraud.

There is no evidence that Arizona’s open carry law, which allows individuals ages 21 or over to carry a handgun in public, has been used to intimidate political opponents or shape election results. Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly led Republican gubernatorial candidate Blake Masters in the polls throughout most of the campaign, while Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake led Democrat Katie Hobbs in polls conducted immediately prior to the election.