Arizona GOP chairwoman Kelli Ward promised to stop Mark Kelly — husband of gunshot victim former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) and Senate candidate – “dead in his tracks.”
“Support the Republican Party of Arizona today and, together, we’ll stop gun-grabber Mark Kelly dead in his tracks,” Ward wrote in a fundraising email, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Kelly campaign Communications Director Jacob Peters denounced the comment.
“This dangerous rhetoric has absolutely no place in Arizona and is what’s wrong with our politics,” he told TPM. “Mark Kelly is running for Senate to overcome this type of nasty divisiveness that does nothing for Arizonans.”
The Arizona Republican party did not respond to TPM’s request for comment.
Ward addressed the media coverage of the fundraising pitch on Twitter Friday afternoon, sharing a redacted email she apparently received.
Unfortunately, after years of being on the receiving end of #FakeNews, I’m used to emails like this whenever reporters write dishonest stories about me for clicks. Redeem yourselves, be honest! @jscros @JustineColeman8 @gregorykorte @SebastianMurdoc @yvonnewingett @ColbyItkowitz pic.twitter.com/jPM09KkXV0
— Dr. Kelli Ward ?? (@kelliwardaz) September 6, 2019
Kelly, a former astronaut, is challenging Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ).
Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 while holding a constituent meeting in a grocery store parking lot. Six people were killed at the event. Giffords was gravely wounded, immediately underwent surgery and was put into a medically induced coma.
