GOP Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem denies hating Jews by being more antisemitic

EJ Montini, Arizona Republic   Mon, September 19, 2022 

Republican Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem

Mark Finchem, the Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state, has claimed again and again and again that rich Jews are financing his opposition.

But he says this does not make him antisemitic.

Finchem claims that rich Jews are directing the media.

But he says this does not make him antisemitic.

Finchem says, essentially, that if you don’t vote for him, rich Jews will control the government.

But he says this does not make him antisemitic.

Finchem gets called out and doubles down

Last week, as part of a column about a Finchem’s pal and conspiracy cohort, Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, I noted Finchem’s latest antisemitic trope.

He published a tweet reading, “Democrat politicians on the ballot in Arizona are liars and deceivers. They want total control over you and our state. Their loyalty is to George Soros and Mike Bloomberg. They want Arizona to be like California. Do not be deceived.”

I might have pointed out another antisemitic tweet from the same day, in which Finchem wrote, “People say ‘oh don’t talk about Trump’ for the general election. I am a Trump supporter. I am endorsed by Trump. But I am also honest. Democrats & Independents – I will protect your vote. It is the guy who is funded by Soros you should worry about. He will sell you out.”

In response, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix, tweeted,  “@RealMarkFinchem: your reliance on #antisemitic tropes to spearhead your campaign is an embarrassment to the majority of #Arizona residents.”

I believe that is true.

I’d also like to believe we’re better than that.

Oath Keeper insurrectionists are not patriots

Finchem, however, is betting on just the opposite.

He tweeted in response, “Calling out Soros and Bloomberg and their political objectives is not anti-Semitic. This is a political discussion, not a religious one. I love the Jewish people. I do not love Marxists who hate America. The gaslighting of patriots must end NOW.”

Finchem calling himself a patriot is almost as outrageous as him claiming not to be antisemitic.

Finchem is a proud member of the Oath Keepers, whose leader and others have been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.

Finchem was at the Capitol that day, mingling with the mob.

He is now spouting the lunatic conspiracy theory that former Vice President Mike Pence orchestrated a “coup” of Donald Trump. As if the election didn’t happen. As if every review and court case of the election found nothing that would change the outcome.

Finchem accuses Pence: Says Pence orchestrated a coup against Trump

Finchem says he needs to beat the 'deceiver'

The Oath Keepers, by the way, also are xenophobes, white nationalists, Christian nationalists and conspiracy theorists, with who knows how many other festering prejudices.

Patriots?

Ahhhh, no.

In addition, Finchem and Kari Lake are proud supporters of Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers, an Oath Keeper like Finchem who shares the same sick tropes – the same sick beliefs – as Finchem.

Rogers called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “globalist puppet” of Soros and also shared a picture on social media of herself next to a dead rhino branded with a Star of David.

The day after the Jewish Community Relations Council called out Finchem for his antisemitism, Finchem doubled down on his antisemitism, adding a photo to a tweet reading in part, “I need to raise $15k by midnight to stop the deceiver who is bankrolled by billionaires Soros & Bloomberg. ...”

Supporting Fontes makes you a Marxist?

That so-called “deceiver” is Finchem’s Democratic opponent Adrian Fontes, whom Finchem says cannot be trusted to run a fair election.

This is the same Adrian Fontes who, as Maricopa County recorder, oversaw an election in 2020 in which Fontes himself was defeated. Fontes, a former Marine, has drawn to his campaign a number of longtime Republicans who have gone public with their support.

To that, Finchem tweeted, “‘Republicans’ who endorse Adrian Fontes are not Republicans, they are Marxists pretending to be Republicans, deceiving voters.”

So to review, according to Finchem:

Independent-thinking Republicans who are disinclined to support him are “Marxists.”

While he is not an antisemite.

Got it.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mark Finchem denies hating Jews by being more antisemitic