One Republican forwarded screen shots of a Facebook scrum involving Arizona State Committeeman Bill Beard, who is one of two plaintiffs suing the Arizona Republican Party and its Chairwoman Kelli Ward to force them to follow the party’s bylaws and audit the January party elections, and Michael Ward, the husband of Kelli Ward and a frequent combatant in online and in-person battles.
While Beard was posting updates about the ongoing efforts, he was urged to “stop spewing your anti-Kelli Ward rhetoric” in a Facebook group for Republicans in LD15. Beard asked for clarification on what kind of content was allowed or if just anti-Ward content was being censored, which prompted Ward to jump in and opine that Beard was “…just a loser troll…”
Beard responded in kind, poking at Ward for his old Jimmy the Mole twitter handle that Ward employed previously on Twitter, prior to his suspension from that platform, leading Ward to admit that he spiked a job that Beard had applied for in retaliation for his involvement, and Ward referred to Beard as both a “dumbass” and an “asshole.”
“Mind blown!” said the Republican who forwarded the screen shots to ADI. “First of all, LD15 is probably one of the strongest districts in terms of calling for election integrity and trying to get Ward to do the right thing. But for Mike Ward to brag about personally intervening to keep the plaintiff in the lawsuit from getting a job, and calling him an A-hole in public? Just wow.”
This would hardly be the first time Michael Ward appeared in frequent news coverage related to his temper or his involvement with State GOP business, including one story about efforts by a firm owned by him and his wife to solicit consulting business from legislative candidates while she was State Party Chairman.
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