Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed the former president of Thiel Capital and Arizona GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters about what voters are telling him and why he is running to replace Democrat Senator Mark Kelly.
Masters told TSNN that Arizona voters are always asking him why Congress voted to send $40 billion to Ukraine while ignoring problems at home.
The former investment executive, who met billionaire Peter Thiel when Masters attended Stanford University Law School, said Arizona is a conservative state, and Kelly’s leftist voting record is out of sync with what the state is supposed to represent.
TRANSCRIPT
McCabe: The Arizona Republican Senate primary is August 2nd. And up this cycle is the seat held by Democrat Mark Kelly, who voted for President Joe Biden’s $40 billion aid package to Ukraine. The former president of Thiel Capital and Republican Senate hopeful Blake Masters told The Star News Network that Arizona voters are furious that Congress is sending that much cash overseas while problems at home are ignored.
Masters: What everyone is asking me on the campaign trail is Blake, why is Congress sending $40 billion to Ukraine? They are like, please explain this to me. Why do these people hate us so much? We’ve got our own problems.
We’ve got people suffering right here in Arizona under Joe Biden’s regime. So why on Earth is Congress putting Americans last and just funding a proxy war to the tune of $40 billion? We already sent $13.6 billion to Ukraine.
McCabe: Masters said his problems with Kelly began long before his Ukraine vote.
Masters: You know, I remember when Mark Kelly was declared the winner in 2020. I moved back to Arizona in late 2017, mid-2018, just in time to see us lose that first Senate seat. And then two years later, Mark Kelly gets sworn in.
And it’s like, man, what’s happening to our state, what’s happening to our country? And look, I had a great business career, but I decided to hit pause on that because it feels to me like we’re losing the country. Kelly was elected in 2020 to fill the unfinished term of the late Senator John McCain.
I knew Mark Kelly would be bad. He turned out to be way worse. And after two or three months, I saw he was voting hard left every time, I said he’s out of step with Arizona, I can beat him. I think that’s a public service in and of itself.
But I know that once I do beat him, I’ll be able to show new energy and new fight in the U.S. Senate. And that’s why it’s important to run. We’ve got to get some new leadership in office.
McCabe: The investment executive who met billionaire Peter Thiel when Masters was attending Stanford Law School said he is running to realign this Arizona Senate seat with Arizona.
Masters: Arizona, I think, is a very conservative state. People say it’s a purple state, it’s a blue state – no, I actually think it’s a pretty red state. But we are unrepresented. We have two Democrat senators, which is crazy and unrepresentative. We have a left-wing media.
The media here is actually quite left-wing for a conservative state. And they attack me. They attack me almost every single day. They know that I’m the candidate who’s going to beat Mark Kelly this November.
McCabe: Reporting for The Star News Network, Neil W. McCabe, Scottsdale, Arizona.
I oppose this forty billion dollar package to Ukraine because it simply prolongs the war and sufferings of the people who had the least to do with instigating the war. Prolonging this war also endangers world peace. We need to pressure both sides, especially the Russians, to the negotiating table. We should not allow the weapons and N.A.T.O. partisans plunge us into a deadly world war. We need an international commission to try not only Russians for war-crimes, but also to try the U.S. for similar war-crimes in Iraq, Korea, Yemen, Haiti, Honduras, etc. This international commission should also try Israel for crimes against Palestinian citizens.