GOP House Candidate Jerone Davison Says ‘Make Rifles Great Again’ In Campaign Ad
Arizona Congressional Republican candidate Jerone Davison has gone viral after a campaign ad that declares “Make Rifles Great Again” and shows him ready to shoot Democrats who are portrayed as the Ku Klux Klan.
The ad from Davison, who is a former NFL player with no political experience, has garnered nearly four million views since July 6. In the ad, Davison is heard saying, “But when this rifle is the only thing standing between your family and a dozen angry Democrats in Klan hoods, you just might need that semiautomatic.”
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Davison appears to be pushing a consistently debunked myth that the Democratic Party founded the Ku Klux Klan in the 1860s. PolitiFact, the Associated Press and USA Today have all stated the claim is incorrect. The Ku Klux Klan was founded by ex-Confederate soldiers and was not founded with a political affiliation. Members of the Ku Klux Klan were attracted to the Democratic Party, which was the party of the South and anti-civil rights (much like many say the Republican Party is today) after the Civil War, but not all Democrats were Klan members.
According to the Phoenix New Times, Davison’s campaign manager Austin Steinbart, said about the ad, “We like to draw attention to the fact that the KKK was started by Democrats and is run by Democrats.” Steinbart is described as “a.k.a. BabyQ, a QAnon influencer who claims to be from the future” and in 2020 “was arrested on suspicion of using a synthetic, urine-filled penis to dodge drug tests.”
Steinbart appears to be pushing a debunked myth that the Democratic Party founded the Ku Klux Klan in the 1860s. PolitiFact, The Associated Press and USA Today have all stated the claim is incorrect. The Ku Klux Klan was founded by ex-Confederate soldiers and did not begin with a political affiliation. Members of the Ku Klux Klan were attracted to the Democratic Party, which was the party of the South and anti-civil rights (much like many say the Republican Party is today) after the Civil War, but not all Democrats were Klan members.
The Arizona GOP primary is August 2.
