Ariz. Republicans Target Cindy McCain for Biden, LGBTQ+ Rights Support

A group of Maricopa County, Ariz., Republicans are considering censuring Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, over her support for President-elect Biden and his policies, including support for marriage equality.

The Maricopa County Republican Committee held a meeting on Saturday to censure, or formally reprimand, former U.S. Senator Jeff Flake for his endorsement of Biden against Trump this past November. In their censure of Flake, they mocked the former senator, saying he should "join a party that is more in line with your endorsements, your actions, and your votes: the Democratic Party."

Walt Steiner, a GOP officer from Legislative District 4, proposed that McCain be added to the resolution against Flake, which drew cheers and applause from the largely unmasked crowd. He said that the same principles that apply to Flake should apply to McCain.

A proposed resolution censuring McCain makes personal attacks against her, referring to her as "troubled" and mentioning a past drug addiction. It also includes this verbiage:

"Whereas Cindy McCain has supported leftist causes such as gay marriage, growth of the administrative state, and others that run counter to Republican values, a Republican form of government, and the US Constitution."

McCain has been a proponent of LGBTQ+ rights for years and was given the Trevor Hero Award in 2013.

When Matthew Whetstine from Legislative District 20 brought up McCain's work with churches, her contributions to the state of Arizona, and her work on the issue of human trafficking, he was booed.

The state Republican Party had initially tweeted that McCain was included in the censure, but because the resolution wasn't properly amended, it did not. They later tweeted that "the @AZGOP will vote on a 'Censure McCain' resolution on Jan 23."

The Arizona Republican Party had previously censured John McCain in 2014, for his "continued disservice to our state and nation," which meant he was too liberal on a handful of issues like immigration reform and health care.

McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain came to her mother's defense, tweeting, "oh how will she ever survive such a thing?!?" with an eye-rolling emoji. She added sarcastically "this is THE REAL problem facing the Arizona GOP, my mom! A few days after a domestic terror attack led by maniac Trump supporters."

The Arizona GOP has yet to condemn Donald Trump for inciting the violent mobs that attacked the Capitol last week.