By Matthew Holloway |
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) criticized Democratic congressional nominee Amish Shah over his veganism and decade-old remarks linking meat consumption to cancer. The NRCC questioned whether Shah’s support for universal health care extends to government restrictions on meat.
The committee issued its challenge after Politico reported on Republican efforts to make veganism a campaign issue in several battleground races. The report identified Shah among the Democratic candidates whose dietary views and animal-welfare advocacy have drawn Republican scrutiny.
Politico reported that Shah identifies as vegan and founded the Arizona Vegetarian Food Festival. His official biography with the Arizona Legislature described the festival as a philanthropic effort intended to promote healthy eating and eliminate preventable disease.
The NRCC published a video that it identified as footage from a 2015 speech by Shah at the festival. The committee said the recording showed Shah linking meat consumption with “DNA damage” and cancer. Shah later discussed meat and cheese while referring to coronary bypass surgery.
“When they do bypass surgeries, they’re not pulling broccoli out of there, okay?” Shah said. “Yeah, they’re pulling cheese, and they’re pulling meat out of that.”
The committee subsequently asked whether Shah believes a government-run health system “should monitor, ban, tax or limit meat consumption.”
“The more Arizonans learn about socialist Amish Shah, the more clear it gets how out of touch he is with their priorities,” NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen said. “Socialist Shah’s wacky liberal agenda pushing Vegan policies, the Green New Scam, and a socialist government takeover of health care place him squarely out of the mainstream.”
Shah’s current campaign platform calls him a “proven champion for Universal healthcare” and says he would expand coverage, protect Medicare, and lower prescription-drug prices. The published platform also calls for honoring state and local authority to combat factory farming and for ending horse slaughter for human consumption.
As of Friday, the campaign’s published issues page contained no proposal to tax, ban, monitor, or limit individual meat consumption.
Shah is running against Republican nominee Thomas “Jay” Feely for the open First Congressional District seat. Shah won the Democratic nomination in July after defeating the candidate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Feely won the Republican nomination after receiving President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Arizona cattle and calves generated approximately $727.2 million in sales during 2022, accounting for 14 percent of the state’s $5.2 billion in agricultural-product sales, according to the USDA Census of Agriculture. Cattle ranked as Arizona’s third-largest agricultural sales category behind vegetables, melons, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, at 27.5 percent, and milk from cows, at 22.4 percent.
The USDA counted 997,842 cattle and calves across 5,864 Arizona farms and ranches. Within the First Congressional District, cattle and calf sales totaled approximately $3.8 million and represented about 2 percent of the district’s $189 million in agricultural sales. The district contained 2,407 cattle and calves at the end of 2022.
Republican Rep. David Schweikert defeated Shah with 51.9% of the vote in 2024. Schweikert subsequently declined to seek reelection and ran unsuccessfully for governor, leaving the congressional seat open.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
