By Christina Zhao
Senior news editor
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Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz called the Arizona election audit a "launchpad" for audits across the country during an "America First" rally in the state with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Gaetz and Greene, two staunch allies of former President Donald Trump, hosted a rally in Mesa, Arizona on Friday night, during which they cheered the ongoing election audit and insisted that it will soon be replicated in states across America.
"We are honored to be in the state of Arizona and where Arizona goes on election integrity, so goes our country. We have got your back on this audit. And it's our expectation that Arizona will be the launchpad to election integrity all over the country," Gaetz said.
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Asked by a reporter "you said Arizona was a launching pad. What's the next state?," Gaetz said: "We're going to Georgia on the 27th."
In recent months, Trump's baseless voter fraud claims have sparked a rift in the Republican Party, with close allies including Gaetz and Greene championing the America First wing in Congress. Following ongoing court battles, the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate instructed officials to launch an audit of the election results in Maricopa County last month.
The audit is being conducted by Florida consulting company Cyber Ninja, whose CEO has backed Trump's voter fraud claims.
It's virtually impossible that the audit will change the results of the 2020 election, but the audit has given many Trump fans hope that the results will support his conspiracy theory that voter fraud caused his loss to President Joe Biden.
"Who do you think won Arizona on Nov 3?" Greene asked a crowd of rally attendees. "Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump," they chanted.
The pair also denounced members of the Republican Party who have broken with Trump on his election fraud claims. "Just because you have an 'R' by your name and you say things doesn't mean you'll do them when you run the country," Greene said. "This is why so many people don't vote. They don't trust Republicans to do the job."
Earlier this week, top Arizona Republicans pushed back against Trump by defending the state's handling of the presidential election and called for others to condemn the partisan audit.
In a letter to state Senate President Karen Fann, the Board of Supervisors in Maricopa County, consisting of one Democrat and four Republicans, called the audit a "slam" and "spectacle that is harming us."
"Our state has become a laughingstock," the board's letter read. "Worse, this 'audit' is encouraging our citizens to distrust elections, which weakens our democratic republic."
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment. This story will be updated with any response.
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