A straight line connects Gov. Doug Ducey to Wendy Rogers to a Holocaust-denying racist

It may be the most grotesque thing Gov. Doug Ducey has said during his two terms in office. Maybe the most grotesque thing any politician has said recently, although, these days, probably not.

Still, there was Ducey, asked if he still supported state Sen. Wendy Rogers, a featured speaker at the America First Political Action Conference, an outfit headed by Holocaust-denying white nationalist Nick Fuentes, whom Rogers much admires and has more than once pledged her gratitude and love.

As in this tweet:

Ducey’s political action committee spent as much as $500,000 to elect Rogers. A certified conspiracy kook. Election denier. Member of the Oath Keepers, whose head honcho has been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Her.

Ducey said Wendy Rogers was 'better'

And when Ducey was asked if he still supports her, he didn’t hedge. He didn’t say that a politician doesn’t get to pick the members of his party. He didn’t say there is much about her with which he vehemently disagrees. Instead, Ducey said:

“What I need as a governor are governing majorities so that I can pass dollars into our social safety net so we can provide programs like this that will help children from all over our state … [and so] we can pass budgets that will put $8.6, $8.7 billion additional dollars into K-12 education.”

And he added, “So that’s what I’ve wanted to do, is move my agenda forward. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish, and [Rogers] is still better than her opponent, Felicia French.”

Better?

He could have said Rogers, for all her faults, is more politically aligned with his Republican agenda.

But, no.

Ducey said, “Better.”

Rogers called white nationalists 'patriots'

Felicia French, whom Ducey thinks is less than Rogers, retired as a colonel in the Army and Arizona National Guard after 32 years of service. She is a nurse. She is a veteran of the Afghanistan war. She has flown medical evacuation helicopters and has volunteered tirelessly in places like the Navajo reservation.

She does not spread conspiracy theories.

She does not cozy up and heap praise on a Holocaust-denying racist. But still, Ducey said Rogers is “better.”

Rogers has called for a return to the McCarthyism and the communist witch hunts that ruined thousands of lives in the 1950s.

She wanted to decertify the 2020 election, which Ducey himself certified.

She calls white nationalists patriots.

To those following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a heroic figure, standing firm in defense of his country. When he turned down an evacuation offer by the United States, he said, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” 

Meantime, Rogers in a tweet said, “Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.”

She said at the event hosted by her white nationalist pal Fuentes that she’d like to hang their perceived enemies.

“I’ve said we need to build more gallows,” Rogers said. “If we try some of these high-level criminals, convict them and use a newly built set of gallows, it’ll make an example of these traitors who have betrayed our country.” 

Putin/Hitler is 'a good thing'?

Meanwhile, Fuentes, whom Rogers admires and loves, called the United States “the evil empire of the world.”

And he added, “Now, they’re going and saying, ‘Vladimir Putin is Adolf Hitler,’ as if that isn’t a good thing.”

There’s an old saying that goes, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are.”

From that nauseating remark about Putin and Hitler you can draw a straight line from Fuentes through Rogers to Ducey. The governor knows who Rogers is. He knows what she believes. He knows the ugliness she professes and the people she supports. And he still says she’s better than Felicia French.

Which might be the most grotesque thing Gov. Doug Ducey has said during his two terms in office.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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