Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Arizona GOP censures Rusty Bowers after Jan. 6 testimony

Arizona's House Speaker Rusty Bowers returns at the end of a break in a House select committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Donald Trump on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, endorsed the Republican running against Bowers, who last week gave powerful testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File
Arizona's House Speaker Rusty Bowers returns at the end of a break in a House select committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Donald Trump on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, endorsed the Republican running against Bowers, who last week gave powerful testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Arizona Republican Party has censured state House Speaker Rusty Bowers after his gripping public testimony before the Jan. 6 House committee about Donald Trump’s relentless pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The censure Tuesday night came hours after Trump reiterated his support for Bowers’ opponent in his GOP primary for state Senate.

The censure is largely symbolic, but it’s illustrative of the iron grip that Trump continues to have over the Republican Party.

The Arizona Republican Party previously censured Gov. Doug Ducey, Cindy McCain and former Sen. Jeff Flake.

The censure does not specifically mention Bowers’ testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee but characterizes him as hostile to the GOP platform.