An Arizona Republican threatened to 'lynch' a Jewish GOP County Recorder while speaking at a local gathering - causing fierce backlash from the Anti-Defamation League.
Shelby Busch, the first vice chair of the Maricopa County Republican Committee was addressing a crowd when she compared the county's recorder Stephen Richer to a 'good, Christian man' in the audience.
In a video uploaded by Richer on X, Busch said she could find 'unity' with someone who agrees to 'run a good Christian foundation campaign.'
'But if Stephen Richer walked in this room, I would lynch him. I don't unify with people who don't believe in the principles we believe in and the American cause that founded this country,' Busch warned her audience.
Shelby Busch, (pictured) the first vice chair of the Maricopa County Republican Committee was addressing a crowd when she would hurt the county's recorder Stephen Richer
In a video uploaded by Richer (pictured) on X, Busch compares the recorder against a man in the audience who she says is a 'good Christian man that believes what we believe'
Later, Richer responded to her threat and questioned why she used the word 'lynch'.
'This is Shelby Busch. She is second-in-command for the Maricopa County Republican Committee (@MaricopaGOP). She was the county party's 2023 "volunteer of the year". She's an advisor to Kari Lake and others.
'She also runs an "election integrity" group called "We The People AZ" that receives funding from Mike Lindell, Patrick Byrne, and Mike Flynn.
'Interesting choice of words. Not, "I'd kick his butt" or "I'd kill him".
'But 'lynch.' Why does that word roll off her tongue given its historical context? She says this after talking about good Christian values.
'And while some in the room laugh, nobody shouts out in protest. Nobody says, 'that's too far.'
'This isn't healthy. And it's not responsible. And we shouldn't want it as part of the Republican Party,' the man wrote.
After the video went viral and the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix released a joint statement saying they were 'appalled at these vile remarks.'
'Not surprisingly, the extremists on X enthusiastically amplified her Jew-hatred.
'ADL Desert and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix are appalled at these vile remarks. We urge Ms. Busch to retract and apologize, and the Maricopa County Republican Party to stand against such rhetoric,' the statement read.
The groups have also urged Busch to retract her statement, apologize and asked 'the Maricopa County Republican Party to stand against such rhetoric'.
But this is not the first time Richer has been threatened or insulted by his own party.
This is not the first time Richer has been threatened or insulted from his own party
In the last two years, Richer has received numerous death threats related to the 2020 election.
Back in 2021, the Republican-controlled Maricopa County Board of Supervisors slammed the 'sham' recount of the 2020 presidential results, calling it 'political theater' backed by 'grifters and con-artists.'
The members of the board didn't hold back when it came to expressing their disgust for the audit, which is examining 2.1 million ballots in Arizona's most populous county during the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
It has become subject to numerous conspiracy theories including one that state elections officials shredded ballots, fed them to chickens, and then had the chickens incinerated to cover up the evidence.
Richer, who is in charge of maintaining files on the country's 2.6 million registered voters, blasted that claim.
'I mean, that chickens one is probably pretty top of the charts,' he told CNN about the birdfeed conspiracy claim.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a GOP official, blasted a conspiracy theory that officials shredded ballots, fed them to chickens, and killed chickens to cover up evidence as 'pretty top of the charts'
The audit was ordered by the Republican-controlled state Senate in Arizona and is being paid for with a combination of tax payer money and private donations.
In a public meeting and in a letter to state Senate President Karen Fann, who ordered the recount, the Maricopa county board criticized the audit as a 'spectacle' that is causing Arizona to be a 'laughing stock' and encouraging people to distrust elections.
In a show of bipartisan unity Richer signed on to the letter, as did the county's Democratic sheriff.
'We express our united view that your 'audit', no matter what your intentions were in the beginning, has become a spectacle that is harming all of us. Our state has become a laughingstock. Worse, this 'audit' is encouraging our citizens to distrust elections, which weakens our democratic republic,' they wrote.
