By
QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. — Blake Masters, former President Trump's pick in Tuesday's GOP Senate primary in Arizona, said in a new interview with NBC News that he would have objected to the 2020 presidential election certification had he been serving in the U.S. Senate on January 6, 2021.
“I think what [Sen. Josh] Hawley and, I believe, what [Sen. Ted] Cruz did was right,” Masters said. “I think their constituents had a lot of concerns.”
In an interview with NBC News, Masters said he would not shy away from his alliance with the former president despite Trump’s loss in Arizona in the 2020 election. The two appeared together at a rally in the state last week.
“I’m my own guy, you know–I’m not trying to copy Trump’s mannerisms or anything like that, but his policies were great,” Masters said. “The ‘America First’ agenda, that–you know, we got a lot of it done. We didn’t get all that done. But it was great.”
Masters was the chief operations officer to billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s investment firm and the president of his foundation. Thiel has now invested $15 million into a super PAC to aid Masters’ Senate candidacy.
The Tucson-raised candidate, however, continues to face an onslaught of TV ads questioning his past positions financed by Jim Lamon, a solar company executive. Lamon has loaned his campaign $14 million so far.
“Masters is a product of big tech California. This guy is backed by the globalist Peter Thiel and the Club for Growth–two of the biggest swamp creatures out there,” Lamon told NBC News on Thursday night during a campaign event in Scottsdale.
He dismissed Trump’s endorsement of Masters as a “bad endorsement," comparing it to the "bad one" the former president made in Pennsylvania's Senate race, where Trump-backed Mehmet Oz is struggling in general election polling.
“But hey, it happens. Nobody’s perfect," Lamon said.
Lamon also said he would have objected to the 2020 certification on Capitol Hill.
Unlike Masters and Lamon, however, Mick McGuire, the former adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard who retired to run for office, said he would have certified the election because he's a "strict states' rights guy.
“The rule of law, whether you like it or not, is supreme, and it’s the only thing that separates us from every other nation," McGuire added.
Though numerous polling firms have showed McGuire lagging, he made the case he can will pull off a surprise win on primary day as he traveled to rural Arizona Thursday.
Meanwhile, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s campaign hit roadblocks over the last year after facing intense criticism from Trump and other allies in the state for not taking a more decisive position to elevate false claims of widespread voter fraud in the state.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary will take on Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, who has already amassed a massive fundraising haul of more than $54 million.
