Arizona Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel implied that Trump’s recent use of the common “bloodbath” metaphor was a call to violence.
The congressional candidate didn’t come to the conclusion on her own. Engel played off viral claims made in the media by the Biden-Harris campaign and top Democrats. She used the media storm on the former president as an opportunity to condemn her opponent, incumbent Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06), for not rebuking Trump’s rhetoric. Ciscomani endorsed Trump earlier this month.
“Just one week after my opponent endorsed him, President Trump warns of a ‘bloodbath’ if he’s not elected in Nov,” said Engel. “Predictably my opponent remains silent. Time and again he’s demonstrated an unwillingness to stand up to extremism. #AZ06 deserves better.”
Just one week after my opponent endorsed him, President Trump warns of a "bloodbath" if he's not elected in Nov. Predictably my opponent remains silent. Time and again he's demonstrated an unwillingness to stand up to extremism. #AZ06 deserves better. https://t.co/0TJaFiA7FL
Democrats and legacy media claimed that Trump mentioned a “bloodbath” in a political rally Saturday night as a promise of violence should he lose the election, many comparing the rhetoric to the 2021 Capitol breach. However, the former president was warning that his loss in the upcoming presidential race would result in a “bloodbath” for the country’s auto industry, as well as the entire economy.
“Those big monster car manufacturing plants that you’re building in Mexico right now, and you think you’re gonna get that, you’re gonna not hire Americans and you’re gonna sell the cars to us. No, we’re going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line. And you’re not gonna be able to sell those cars; if I get elected. Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars; they’re building massive factories.”
The “bloodbath” metaphor is a popular one employed often by politicians, and even the same outlets that have now criticized Trump for its usage.
The Biden-Harris campaign also accused Trump of eliciting violence. James Singer, the campaign’s spokesman, passed on a statement to numerous outlets from a press release claiming that Trump was trying to start another January 6 incident.
“This is who Donald Trump is: a loser who gets beat by over 7 million votes and then instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience doubles down on his threats of political violence,” said Singer. “He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”
Biden-Harris campaign statement on Trump tonight promising a “bloodbath” if he loses pic.twitter.com/8mBYh4QKnf
The campaign’s communications director, Michael Tyler, also put out the accusation in an interview with former White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Biden-Harris Communications Director Michael Tyler: Trump is promising a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses. The same guy who said there were ‘very fine people’ in Charlottesville, told the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by, and champions insurrectionists. This is who Trump is pic.twitter.com/RKvG1BEOdT
Congressional candidate Kirsten Engel has kept quiet on the ongoing conflict over the border crisis and accountability for Biden administration leadership.
Engel hasn’t addressed the recent actions on the $118 billion border bill, nor did she respond to an AZ Free News inquiry concerning the attempted impeachment of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Following the House rejection of a motion to impeach Mayorkas, Senate Republicans blocked the border bill from advancing on Wednesday. House GOP leadership say that they will make another attempt at impeaching Mayorkas.
As reported earlier this week, a majority of the funding in the bill goes to Ukraine: $60 billion, compared to $20 billion for the border. The remainder of the funds were apportioned for humanitarian aid, overseas projects, the Indo-Pacific, and the Red Sea conflict.
This week, Engel opted to issue public remarks only on her attendance at an annual Democratic dinner.
Nobody is going to outwork the SaddleBrooke Dems. I was honored to speak at their annual dinner last night and to have their support as we fight to take back #AZ06. pic.twitter.com/7iYomVc7uE
During her last run in 2022, Engel sided with a more lenient approach to border security that included the end of Title 42 and rejection of the characterization of the state of the border as a crisis.
It appears that Engel’s campaign has remained similar on the issues this time around. Her approach to the border crisis includes the Biden administration mantra of “secure, fair, orderly, and humane” with a focus on increasing pathways to citizenship, and ignores the illegal migration outside the legal ports of entry, rather focusing on increasing resources at those legal ports of entry.
In December, Engel told voters that border security efforts should be focused on legal ports of entry to mitigate drug and human trafficking.
Great coverage of our recent visit to Safford, where we discussed the border, abortion rights, water and other critical issues facing #AZ06. Voters across the district tell me they're fed up with this do-nothing Congress and are ready for a change! https://t.co/5C78vSmMM0
Engel last addressed the border bill, indirectly, last month. She leveled criticism against her opponent for supporting House GOP leadership’s stance that the border bill wasn’t a valid solution to the ongoing crisis.
“This is further proof that Republicans want to play politics with this issue, rather than solve it,” said Engel.
Over the weekend, the Republican Speaker that my opponent wholeheartedly supports and helped to elect, announced that he will DO NOTHING to help the crisis at the border until a Republican is elected President. pic.twitter.com/mI6yCNagtV
Engel also blamed Republicans in December for the ever-worsening border crisis, and the then-shutdown of the Lukeville Port of Entry. The closure was roundly condemned by both Democratic and Republican leadership. The Biden administration shuttered the port to reassign agents elsewhere along the border to process illegal immigrants.
“The situation at the border is getting worse by the day. One port of entry has already been shut down, tens of thousands of asylum-seekers have nowhere to go, and our border communities have been left to deal with the situation on their own,” said Engel. “People are tired of dysfunction in Congress and they know who to blame: Juan Ciscomani and Congressional Republicans.”
In September, Engel expressed frustration that illegal immigrants were deposited into communities due to full processing facilities, calling the practice “callous” and “dangerous.” Engel blamed Washington lawmakers for the nonstop inundation of illegal immigrants.
“This type of callous treatment by CBE of our border communities and migrants is as alarming as it is dangerous,” said Engel. “We’re reminded nearly everyday of just how badly Washington has failed us at the border.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel has confused which district she’s running in, marking the second year and second congressional race in a row of similar oversights to the district she aims to represent.
On Tuesday, Engel posted about her weekend activities purportedly in the sixth congressional district — except, all of the events took place in the seventh congressional district.
The canvass with Tucson Mayor Regina Romero took place at the mayoral candidate’s headquarters — 2720 E. Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85716. The tailgate for the University of Arizona (UArizona) Homecoming took place at the University of Arizona Mall (85721). The UArizona Law awards ceremony granting Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick the Lifetime Achievement Award took place at the James E. Rogers College of Law — 1201 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721.
None of those events were in the sixth congressional district.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) was among the first to notice Engel’s mistake. NRCC spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a statement that Engel’s oversight amounted to disrespect — especially since she made a similar mistake last year.
“Extreme liberal Kirsten Engel refuses to stop disrespecting 6th district voters. The 7th Congressional District is as close as Engel will come to representing the 6th, especially given she can’t find it on a map,” said Petersen.
In July, Engel claimed she was mobilizing her local grassroots support and hearing the concerns of voters within her district — yet posted a picture from the Bisbee Pride Parade, which is outside of the district.
“It’s been an exhausting but exhilarating first couple of months on the campaign trail,” said Engel. “I’ve loved traveling throughout Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, and Pinal counties — talking to voters, hearing their concerns, and mobilizing grassroots support.
It's been an exhausting but exhilarating first couple of months on the campaign trail.
I've loved traveling throughout Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, and Pinal counties — talking to voters, hearing their concerns, and mobilizing grassroots support. pic.twitter.com/3YLlZBwX6V
Engel faced a similar issue with district engagement and recognition last year.
Last September, while running against now-Rep. Juan Ciscomani for the sixth district, Engel held a campaign event at Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson — outside the sixth district — immediately after skipping a debate with Ciscomani.
Several months prior, the Arizona Daily Independent reported that Engel and her primary opponent Daniel Hernandez opted to host their debate outside the sixth district as well.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Another FBI watchlist terrorist was apprehended crossing the border, this time one day after Title 42 ended.
The terrorist came from Pakistan and was apprehended in Ajo, according to information provided by unnamed federal sources to The Washington Examiner. The terrorist was captured within a wave of around 700 illegal immigrants crossing in the area.
There has been a significant increase in terror watchlist apprehensions under Biden. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) disclosed on Wednesday that they’d apprehended 16 terrorists along the border in April alone — more than the total apprehensions from the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 fiscal years combined.
NEW: CBP reports 16 people on the FBI’s terror watchlist were arrested by Border Patrol at the Southern border in April alone. That single month is more than all four years of FY17, FY18, FY19, and FY20 – combined (11).
According to data from December, terror watchlist arrests have increased over sixfold since Biden took office.
So far this fiscal year, there have been over 1.4 million southern border encounters. That’s nearly 134,000 more encounters than from the same time span from the last fiscal year (October 2021 through April 2022).
That brings the total border encounters under President Joe Biden to over 5.6 million.
The average of these encounters totals over 201,000. If that average sustains through the remaining 21 months of Biden’s first term, there may be over 9.8 million illegal immigrant encounters by the end of next year.
Under former President Donald Trump, there were a total of over 2.3 million encounters. There may be four times as many illegal crossings by the end of Biden’s first term.
Despite the continued onslaught of the border crisis, Arizona’s Democratic leaders have been hesitant to fully back proposed remedies.
Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) last week supported the termination of Title 42, but criticized the Biden administration’s lack of action on meaningful immigration reform and infrastructure.
“While the specific needs and requests of each border community varied, one similarity was clear: the administration has not done enough to meet their needs, and these local officials require additional resources, personnel, and funds to ensure our border stays secure and that the processing of asylum seekers is done in a humanitarian way,” stated Gallego.
That same day, Gallego issued another statement dismissing his Republican colleagues’ border proposals as an unserious “sham” perpetuating “cruel” Trump-era policies. The proposals included detainment of unaccompanied children, and restricting asylum outside of legal ports of entry.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-07) complained last August that too many Americans were caught up in the border crisis to notice the religious disrespect of illegal immigrants. Specifically, Grijalva complained that border agents were confiscating illegal Sikh immigrants’ religious items, such as their turbans and bracelets.
“All these festering issues get overwritten because everybody starts screaming about the border and the invasion, and so these go into the background,” said Grijalva. “I don’t think they’re background issues. Border Patrol is the largest law enforcement agency with the least amount of accountability in the country. And that’s the problem.”
Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel supported ending Title 42 last year as part of her prior, failed campaign, and denied the existence of the border crisis.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Congressional candidate Kirsten Engel took a picture with failed Soros-backed district attorney candidate Julie Gunnigle about two weeks before her campaign launch.
The pair were attending the 18th International State of the State hosted by the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations (PCFR). Gunnigle ran on a campaign of major police defunding, a concept which Engel supported vocally following the 2020 BLM riots. Her police defunding proposals were echoed by her controversial campaign manager as well.
“What we need to do is shift where the money [for police] is going,” stated Engel.
Engel also encouraged her supporters to donate to the controversial Minnesota Freedom Fund, which earned national media attention for its practice of bailing out violent criminals. She also encouraged donations for Showing Up For Racial Justice, a group that published a toolkit on how communities could defund their local police.
Those past actions from Engel aligned with Gunnigle’s platform last year. Engel then spent time with Gunnigle on the campaign trail last year, despite Democratic leadership and advisors advising that candidates distance themselves from Gunnigle.
Gunnigle pledged to expunge marijuana-related criminal records; decriminalize hard drugs like heroin, crack, and meth; reduce incarceration rates; end cash bail; oppose the death penalty; fight elongated sentences for gang and weapons-related charges; establish mental health response services; and refuse prosecution for abortion offenses.
Gunnigle also campaigned alongside two public figures that mocked Blue Alerts: safety communications for countering law enforcement murders. The individuals were Chris Love, Planned Parenthood of Arizona board member, and Brianna Westbrook, Arizona Democratic Party vice chair.
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Ben Petersen said in a statement that Engel’s decision to keep company with Gunnigle was “terrifying,” adding that it revealed a disregard for public safety.
“Voters defeated Kirsten Engel and Julie Gunnigle’s extremely dangerous agenda of defunding the police and releasing violent criminals just five months ago, yet Engel is still palling around with Gunnigle,” said Petersen.
Democrats began distancing themselves from Gunnigle as Election Day neared. Attorney General Kris Mayes told voters during campaign debate last year that she disagreed with some of Gunnigle’s positions and wouldn’t endorse her. That marked a complete flip from two years ago, when Mayes endorsed Gunnigle’s first run for Maricopa County attorney.
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, a Democrat, said at the time that Gunnigle’s platform concerned him.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
