Ross D. Franklin, File/The Associated Press
- Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, said in a statement she has received “ongoing and escalating” threats of violence.
- She ripped the president and other Republican officials for their unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
- She said Trump and other officials “are perpetuating misinformation and are encouraging others to distrust election results in a manner that violates the oath of office they took.”
- She also called out Doug Ducey, the Republican governor of Arizona, for his “deafening silence,” calling on him and other state leaders to “stand up for the truth.”
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Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, said in a statement she has received “ongoing and escalating” threats of violence, and she ripped the president and other Republican officials for their unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
Hobbs, a Democrat, said threats have been directed at her, her family, and her staff. She said she anticipated this reaction from people who feel “powerless and angry” but called the actions “utterly abhorrent.”
“They are a symptom of a deeper problem in our state and country — the consistent and systematic undermining of trust in each other and our democratic process,” she said in her statement.
She then tore into officials who she says are contributing to the current climate.
“But there are those, including the president, members of Congress and other elected officials, who are perpetuating misinformation and are encouraging others to distrust election results in a manner that violates the oath of office they took,” she said. “It is well past time that they stop. Their words and actions have consequences.”
She specifically called out Doug Ducey, the Republican governor of Arizona, for his "deafening silence" that has "contributed to the growing unrest," calling on him and other state leaders to "stand up for the truth."
One of the threats Hobbs has received was shared on the social media site Parler and read, "Let's burn her house down and kill her family and teach these fraudsters a lesson," according to The Associated Press. Local news station 12 News reported the threat is being investigated by law enforcement.
Video footage shared by 12 News also showed a group outside Hobbs's home chanting "we are watching you."
Arizona's vote count currently projects President-elect Joe Biden as the winner, marking the first time the state has elected a Democratic presidential candidate since 1996.
But President Donald Trump and his allies have called vote counts into question across the country with many baseless claims of voter fraud, while many of his supporters rally behind those claims.
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, said in an interview with The Washington Post that he has also received death threats as other Republican leaders have pressured him over the vote count. Georgia also flipped for Biden.
A Republican city commissioner in Philadelphia, another focus of Trump's baseless voter fraud claims, said he too was receiving death threats for "counting votes." Pennsylvania flipped for Biden as well.