Republicans' historically poor showing in the midterms reached what could arguably be called its apex on Monday when underdog Democrat Katie Hobbs defeated far-right Republican conspiracy theorist and Trump-devotee Kari Lake in the race for Arizona governor, despite consistently polling behind Lake for weeks.
In the aftermath, a far-right Republican state senator thinks she knows why.
And for once it's not a conspiracy theory about the election having been stolen.
Instead, Arizona state Senator Wendy Rogers was surprisingly self-aware, telling right-wing extremist Charlie Kirk she thought the midterm results speak to a right-wing trapped inside an "echo chamber" making them out of touch with most voters.
What a difference a dew days make, huh?
See Rogers comments below.
\u201cThe Charlie Kirk livestream right now is incredible, they're going through the stages of grief\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
Rogers comments came during an appearance on Kirk's radio and YouTube program The Charlie Kirk Show.
During the show, Kirk dejectedly described feeling shocked by the election results and pointed out how "the vibe on the ground was totally different" in Arizona from how the governor's race ended up going.
When he asked Rogers to explain what might have happened November 8, she responded:
“We wonder now if we were in an echo chamber... I don’t know, I’m just beginning to get some perspective."
And lest you think Rogers is a more moderate Republican, Rogers is a vocal supporter of White nationalist Nick Fuentes, has called for county election officials to be put in solitary confinement and told a meeting of White nationalists "we need to build more gallows" to execute those who helped Democratic President Joe Biden supposedly steal the 2020 election.
Liz Cheney she is not.
Charlie Kirk is far from moderate himself. His organization Turning Point USA has been instrumental in elevating extremist right-wing candidates.
He and Turning Point's COO Tyler Bowyer—who joined Rogers on Kirk's show—both agreed with Rogers' assessment.
Bowyer reiterated her "echo chamber" comment and Kirk mused:
“I do think voters are telling us that they’re fatigued. I think people are telling us, they’re trying to send it in more ways than one: ‘I’m going to vote for the more boring person.’”
On Twitter, people loved to see Republicans having such revelations.
Many couldn't help but feel a bit of schadenfreude about it.
\u201cI'm trying to shed 75% of my IQ to imagine being in an echo chamber with Wendy Rogers.\u201d— David Leibowitz (@David Leibowitz) 1668608844
\u201c@JoePostingg Not even Wendy Rogers going for Stop the Steal stuff, couldn't be more over\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@JoePostingg YEP\u2026 you were in an echo chamber!\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@JoePostingg Even Wendy Rogers is wondering if she's in an echo chamber.\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@majorityfm Wendy Rogers does a lot of talking about how General Lee was a good man, and I don't know if we can chalk things like that up to echo-chamber thinking.\n\nI'm shocked hearing that from her. They look so deflated which is nice, tho. \ud83d\udc4d\u201d— Majority Report (@Majority Report) 1668567745
\u201c@JoePostingg Honestly, that is the first (and probably last) time I've heard Wendy Rogers be either honest or insightful.\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@JoePostingg \u201cwe wonder now if we were in an echo chamber\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s an impressive level of self-awareness coming the source. The bar is so low, I know it doesn\u2019t mean much \u2014 but I always love to see baby steps back toward sanity.\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@JoePostingg Ahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahhaahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahhhahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahhahashahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha. HA. Ha. ha.\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@fastbreconomics That clip of literally Charlie Kirk and Wendy Rogers going "Yeah, maybe we were in an echo chamber" is incredible\u201d— AN (@AN) 1668568585
\u201c@JoePostingg I\u2019m pleasantly surprised Wendy Rogers can even admit that in public. I really hope it can start to sink in to some of these people \u2026 YOU ARE NOT THE SILENT MAJORITY.\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@JoePostingg It\u2019s beautiful to me that it\u2019s not all \u201cfraud fraud fraud.\u201d Even the suggestion that they didn\u2019t have their pulse on the vibe and might have been \u201cnot correct\u201d is so much better than 2020\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@JoePostingg Wendy Rogers asking if she\u2019s in an echo chamber is absolutely surreal\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
\u201c@JoePostingg My friend said this best:\n\nThere aren't more of them, they're just louder.\n\nThese mid-terms have pretty much proven that.\u201d— Joe (@Joe) 1668475804
While Arizona elected Democrats to the United States Senate and high-level state offices like governor and secretary of state, it flipped several House seats from Democrats to Republicans, suggesting a large number of right-wing voters split their tickets in protest of Trump-backed extremists.
Indications of similar voting patterns were observed in several states across the country.
Good luck with that 2024 run, Donald.
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AMC