For Immediate Release
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org
MASTERS VS. LAMON: The Truth Behind the #AZSen Attack Ad War
PHOENIX — For weeks, GOP Senate primary rivals Blake Masters and Jim Lamon — and their deep-pocketed allies — have been shelling out millions of dollars to attack each other on Arizona’s airwaves.
Already, Republicans have spent upwards of $15 million on TV, with that price tag expected to skyrocket over the next four weeks, inevitably leaving the eventual nominee “bruised and battered” and “hurt[ing] the party’s chances” in the general. Until then, as the attack ads multiply and expose a seemingly endless list of vulnerabilities plaguing these “decidedly weak” candidates, it’s hard to keep track.
With that in mind, we put together a rundown to expose the truth behind the GOP attack ad war:
1.Lamon labeled Masters “the puppet of California Big Tech,” running to represent his billionaire benefactor Peter Thiel
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Daily Beast: “Masters’ candidacy is almost inseparable from its billionaire backer,” Fischer said. “Thiel helped launch Masters’ career, dumped $10 million into a super PAC backing Masters, appeared with Masters at a Club for Growth donor summit, and is deeply and personally involved with raising money for Masters’ campaign.”
2. Lamon introduced voters to “the real Blake Masters” — a Nazi-quoting, Unabomber-promoting phony
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Jewish Insider: Masters penned an article for an obscure libertarian publication in which he referenced a “poignant quotation” from Nazi leader Hermann Goering, while citing a noted conspiracy theorist who has suggested that an infamous antisemitic tract “accurately” describes “much of what is happening in our world.”
Vanity Fair: Masters has publicly said he thinks “everybody should read” the Unabomber’s anti-tech manifesto, “Industrial Society and Its Future,” which may sound strange for a young tech executive running to serve in the United States Senate.
3. Lamon exposed “extreme” and “liberal” Blake Masters for his previous calls for “unrestricted” immigration, “open borders”
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Jewish Insider: In a series of short, polemical blog posts, Masters once suggested that “illegal immigration is an ethical contradiction in terms,” argued that “‘unrestricted’ immigration is the only choice,” and commended U.S. service members who had participated in a drug trafficking ring along the southwestern border as “heroes,” among other things.
4. Masters’ super PAC slammed Lamon for his ties to Chinese Communists and history of “selling out American workers”
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Phoenix New Times: In 2009, with Lamon and First Solar CEO Mike Ahearn at the helm, First Solar and the Chinese government signed an agreement to construct a solar plant in Ordos City … As part of the accord, First Solar promised to teach Chinese workers how to build solar plants, create jobs in China, and keep up with American solar competition.
5. Masters’ super PAC highlighted Lamon’s history of profiting off forced labor to boost his bottom line
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CBS News: Lamon’s solar power company routinely ordered materials from LONGi, a Chinese company that exports parts needed for solar panels…LONGi is a strategic partner of Xinte, which is the subsidiary of Xinjiang-based manufacturer TBEA. Researchers at the Kennedy Centre for International Justice said that TBEA “enthusiastically heeded the call to engage” in forced labor programs against Uyghur Muslims in China.
6. Pro-Masters super PAC “Crypto Freedom” attacked Lamon for doing business with a Trump-sanctioned subsidiary of the Chinese military
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Phoenix New Times: Records show DEPCOM is HT Solar’s top trading partner, accounting for nearly half the company’s business. HT-SAAE is itself a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, also known as CASC…In June 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense released a list of 20 Chinese companies, including CASC, that were operating in the U.S. and were tied to the Chinese military. Five months later, President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring Americans from investing in CASC due to its ties to the Chinese Communist regime.
Breitbart: “Among Lamon’s connections? A missile manufacturer for the red army sanctioned by Trump, a patriot protecting America from the profiteers who betray it like Jim Lamon,” the ad narrator continues.
This primary has made it clear just how unfit these candidates are to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate — and now, from today until August 2nd, their laundry list of flaws will be broadcast on TVs across the state for voters everywhere to see.
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