Arizona GOP congressional hopeful Blake Masters calls for ‘millions and millions’ of deportations
Jul 17, 2024, 9:33 AM
PHOENIX – Arizona Republican Blake Masters said Tuesday that stopping illegal immigration is the signature issue of his congressional campaign and called for “millions and millions” of deportations.
“We need to deport lots of people. There’s no gentle way to say that,” Masters told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on radio row at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “People say, ‘Oh, it’s so unkind.’ It’s like, ‘No, what’s unkind is Joe Biden throwing our border open and the status quo, that’s unkind.’ We need to deport millions and millions of people.”
Masters noted that the 2024 Republican Party platform includes the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. He also echoed former President Donald Trump’s “they’re not sending their best” language about immigration.
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“Some of them are maybe good people. They’re still committing immigration crimes. I still think they should be deported,” Masters said. “But some of them are not good people — Venezuelan gangbangers, you know, Ecuadorean thugs that are literally strangling some of our young Americans, and I’m tired of that.”
Blake Masters running in crowded GOP field
Masters, a venture capitalist who lives in Tucson and was the losing Republican nominee against U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly in 2022, is running for the West Valley congressional seat currently held by Rep. Debbie Lesko.
Lesko isn’t seeking reelection, triggering a Republican primary battle royale in the 8th Congressional District. Masters’ opponents are former U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, losing 2022 Arizona attorney general candidate Abraham Hamadeh, state Sen. Anthony Kern and state House Speaker Ben Toma.
The winner of the July 30 GOP primary will be heavily favored to win the seat in the safe Republican district. Because of that, Masters said the nominee should focus on a different contest for the Nov. 5 general election: the race for outgoing U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat.
“Whether that’s me or Abe Hamadeh or one of the other guys, I think our job, really, is … to do everything we can to help win that Senate seat back.”
The Senate race is expected come down to Republican Kari Lake and Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego.
“Kari’s probably going to be the nominee, and I think she’s a pretty incredible nominee. … We’ll be raising money for her, trying to help her, trying to just help President Trump and spread that message so we can get the red wave in November that we really needed but didn’t get in November of ’22.”
