Mesa, AZ — A group of America First groypers, college Republicans, and a Christian nationalist pastor were handing out burgers and hot dogs to voters in Phoenix on Tuesday—but only if they voted for former president Donald Trump.
The cookout took place about 100 yards from a polling station—and it was likely illegal.
The effort was organized by the far-right College Republicans United group, in association with the Patriot Party of Arizona. It began just after polls opened at the Mesa Convention Center. Groypers, the name that followers of white nationalist Nick Fuentes give themselves, were helping hand out hot dogs, burgers, and cold drinks. Manning the grill was Pastor David MacLellan, a Christian nationalist who is the chaplain for the Patriot Party of Arizona and subscribes to the extremist ideology of the Black Robe Regiment.
“We’re giving away hot dogs and hamburgers to folks who are doing the right thing, voting for Trump,” MacLellan tells WIRED.
Isaiah, a self-identified groyper who would not provide his last name, confirmed that the group was giving food only to Trump voters, but added that the food is “specifically for Trump voters, but we do welcome others if they do want to come over and change their mind.”
Providing food for a specific group of people at a polling location is in breach of federal law.
“Not only is it illegal to give just to voters for one candidate, one cannot limit it only to voters. It must be made available to all people in the area, including children and others ineligible to vote, to avoid running afoul of federal law against vote buying,” Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA, tells WIRED, citing the same rules that Elon Musk was accused of breaching with his $1 million ballot.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s office, which sets the rules for behavior at polling locations, did not respond to a request for comment.
The College Republican United group was set up in 2018 by Rick Thomas, who is also a member of the Patriot Party of Arizona. Thomas told WIRED he founded the group out of frustration at the Republican student group that was in place at Arizona State University.
“We eventually broke off and formed our own organization that was very pro-Trump,” Thomas said. “We are American first; we are MAGA.”
While not all members of College Republican United are members of Fuentes’ group, there is a significant overlap, Isaiah told WIRED.
Thomas portrayed the group as a relatively mainstream student group, but evidence online indicates otherwise: The College Republican United’s website’s book recommendations page features two deeply antisemitic works: the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Henry Ford’s The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem.
Another member of the CRU, Kevin Decuyper, was recently hired as an aide to former far-right sheriff Joe Arpaio,
“There are reasons why College Republicans United have been denounced by so many GOP organizations,” says Nick Martin, an investigative journalist who closely tracks extremist groups in Arizona and who runs the online publication The Informant. “The organization recommends its members read discredited and debunked books filled with racist pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Their guest speakers have included white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Pizzagate peddlers, fringe political candidates and, rarely, some actual Republicans.”
You can follow all of WIRED’s 2024 presidential election coverage here.