Former President Donald Trump allegedly confronted Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward on Monday about $1 million in unspent campaign funds.
Arizona, a key battleground state in the upcoming midterm elections, has candidates contesting narrow Senate, gubernatorial and House races. Three people familiar with the matter said the Arizona GOP currently has around $1 million sitting unspent in its campaign account just two weeks before the November 8 election, leading a furious former president to contact Ward personally, according to Politico.
Trump allegedly attempted to push Ward into spending the money on candidates he endorsed in a tense five-minute phone call, Politico reported. The GOP chair reportedly defended the organization securing the money, but Trump reportedly called her explanation a “bullshit excuse.”
A bit of an update to this story: Trump had a tense phone call today with Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward about this and her not spending money on 2022 races, per multiple people familiar. https://t.co/kpSbIIjU8r
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) October 24, 2022
The former president expressed concern that Mark Finchem, a Republican candidate running for Secretary of State of Arizona, was not receiving enough funding, the outlet reported. (RELATED: REPORT: Trump Sends Cease And Desist Letter To Arizona Senate Candidate)
Trump’s reported confrontation reflects the frustrations of several prominent Republicans, who believe Ward should spend more on Republican candidates for the sake of winning, the outlet reported.
The former president has been a major force for Republican candidates in the midterm elections. In Arizona, he endorsed Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, Senate candidate Blake Masters and several candidates who are competing for the House.
The former president’s Save America PAC has been embroiled in its own controversies when it was accused of sitting on $100 million in unspent campaign funds back in August 2022.