At a conservative Turning Point Action rally in Phoenix, Arizona, state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita was loudly booed off stage ahead of Donald Trump’s speech and clashed with the press.
The Saturday event, dubbed ‘Rally to Protect Our Elections’, included speeches from candidates running for various positions, such as state senate seats or secretary of state, a position Ugenti-Rita is currently vying for.
The state senator was booed before she even began her speech. After several false starts, Ugenti-Rita gave up and said, “I’m running to be your next secretary of state. I’m going to win the primary,” before she exited the stage.
Whoaa. GOP Secretary of State candidate @MichelleUgenti is booed off stage at TPUSA rally for Trump. She opposed GOP lawmaker’s wish list for election changes. #AZSOSpic.twitter.com/qlOQkXB5ap
Ugenti-Rita has been a target of Republicans recently, mainly thanks to her shooting down an elections bill from fellow state Senator Kelly Townsend. She joined Democrats in voting against the bill.
Ugenti-Rita’s frosty reception at the TPUSA event was not the end of her controversy. She has since been accused by conservative outlet the Gateway Pundit of having one of their reporters kicked out of the event and later arrested.
According to the Pundit’s report, their journalist, Jordan Conradson, confronted the state senator after her disastrous speech and asked her if her vote against Townsend’s election integrity bill was why she was booed. She would only say it was because the bill was “bad,” and when continuing to be questioned, event staff removed Conradson from the event for “harassing” the lawmaker.
At the alleged request of Townsend herself, the reporter returned to the event, but was detained by police and could be facing a $900 fine over the incident.
Townsend has accused Ugenti-Rita of getting the reporter arrested because she was asked a question that “angered” her, but Ugenti-Rita gave a different version of events.
“A so-called reporter was removed by police & event security from an event yesterday after repeatedly harassing me. Then @AZKellyT encouraged him to break the law by committing trespassing by re-entering the building to continue to harass me,” she wrote of the incident.
A so-called reporter was removed by police & event security from an event yesterday after repeatedly harassing me. Then @AZKellyT encouraged him to break the law by committing trespassing by re-entering the building to continue to harass me. (1of2)https://t.co/GL2EsJtvqx
— Michelle Ugenti-RITA (@MichelleUgenti) July 25, 2021
In a lengthy Twitter thread, the lawmaker also defended herself from conservatives accusing her of not fighting for “election integrity.”
something every candidate on that stage praised. I’ll put my record of fighting for election integrity up against anyone. What I won’t do is vote for “show” legislation that does nothing to strengthen election integrity and introduced for self serving reasons. (2of5)
— Michelle Ugenti-RITA (@MichelleUgenti) July 25, 2021
Trump also took the stage in Arizona on Saturday and continued pushing his belief that the 2020 presidential election outcome was the result of fraud, something there has been no official proof of.
“There is no way they win elections without cheating,” he said of the Democrats.
Trump was a supporter of Townsend’s bill and called out Republican state Sen. Paul Boyer by name in an email blast to supporters. He did not, however, name Ugenti-Rita in the statement despite her same vote.
Had Trump built the wall like he promised, perhaps he could’ve prevented the 40k #BambooBallots from being imported into Arizona 😆. And if he hadn’t started an insurrection in D.C. and gotten kicked off here, I could’ve responded directly to him. So there’s that. pic.twitter.com/elGvwIHca0
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