Republican Arizona House Speaker Obliterates State GOP for Exiling Him After Testifying Against Trump: ‘They Rule By Thuggery and Intimidation’

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers declared Donald Trump “has no idea what courage is” as he slammed the Arizona Republican Party for politically exiling him and siding with the former president.

Bowers spoke to ABC News’ Jon Karl following the Arizona GOP Executive Committee’s declaration that the former “has lost the confidence of a majority of Republican Party leaders and his colleagues in the legislature in the State of Arizona.” Karl noted that Trump just held a rally in Arizona where he pronounced Bowers a “RINO” who “disgraced himself” because he testified to the January 6th Committee about the former president’s attempts to pressure him into helping overturn the 2020 election.

Asked for his response to Trump’s attacks, Bowers said “he has no idea what a hard life is, and what people have to go through in the real world. He has no idea what courage is.” Karl also asked Bowers for his thoughts about the hold Trump has over the Republican Party, particularly in Arizona.

“They rule by thuggery, and intimidation,” Bowers said. “They found a niche, they found a way, and it’s fear and people can use fear. Demagogues like to use fear as a weapon, and they weaponize everything and we all know it, but that’s not leadership to me.”

Bowers went on by expressing his hope that Trump won’t be the Republican Party’s nominee for president again in 2024.

Watch above, via ABC.

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