President Donald Trump is coming to Phoenix on Friday, and all but one of Arizona’s Republican congressmen will speak on the same stage.
Turning Point USA is hosting the event at Dream City Church. Congressmen Andy Biggs and David Schweikert are running for governor, but only Biggs is endorsed by Trump and Turning Point’s political arm, Turning Point Action. Schweikert is noticeably excluded from the speaker list.
“Congressman Schweikert has not spoken at a Turning Point event and has no plans to do so,” Schweikert’s campaign spokesperson, Chris Baker, said in a text.
In the past, Schweikert has bashed the conservative nonprofit for failing to help Republicans win elections in Arizona.
Turning Point unsuccessfully backed a series of candidates in the SRP utility board election earlier this month. Despite securing the president and vice president's seats, their preferred candidates lost seats to the alternative clean energy slate, which now has the majority it needs to push its agenda.
Schweikert appeared on the Wake Up Live podcast on April 9 and slammed the organization for not getting their candidates the win, and not for the first time.
“So many people are afraid of Turning Point politically or think they are able to do these amazing things, and other than a recall election in Mesa they’ve wiped out the conservatives over and over and over and over. And it happened again last night,” Schweikert said. “And it’s not my feelings, it’s the math. If they didn’t sort of turn it into the fringe of the fringe of the fringe movement and say, ‘look we want to find unelectable candidates because we can raise money,’ they bring us hyper energetic folks that are really fringy.”
The speaker list for Friday’s event notably includes Congressman Juan Ciscomani despite Turning Point Action’s past disapproval of him.
COO Tyler Bowyer even advocated for someone to run against Ciscomani in the last election cycle.
“Somebody prominent needs to step up & primary Juan Ciscomani. You would get the Trump + grassroots endorsements & annihilate his short Congressional record,” Bowyer posted on X in 2023.
But this year, Ciscomani was endorsed by the organization for the first time, though they gave him a lower “score” than all of the other GOP congressman incumbents on the endorsement list.
Ciscomani and Turning Point USA did not respond to requests for comment.
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