After interviews with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz — and after a thorough explanation from anchor Scott Pelley about Trump backing out — the longtime CBS news magazine turned its attention to the Valley’s virulent brand of election denialism.
The segment started with outgoing Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, the Republican whose steadfast insistence that the 2020 and 2022 elections were not stolen has led to hatred and death threats from his own party — and, ultimately, a loss in the Republican primary. Also featured were county supervisor Clint Hickman and Arizona GOP party leader Shelby Busch, who went viral for saying she’d like to lynch Richer.
It made for a compelling segment. If you missed it, here are five standout moments.
1. A swindle
Speaking to Richer, Pelley asked, “What evidence of widespread fraud was found in Maricopa County in 2020?”
“Oh,” Richer responded, “none.”
Richer went on to say that the 2020 election in Maricopa County “is the most scrutinized election in human history.”
That’s a hard claim to prove, but it is true that the 2020 election — and the 2022 midterms — have been the subject of a litany of conspiracy theories and bogus claims. Lawsuit after lawsuit challenging the results have failed, and a politically motivated “audit” of the results by Cyber Ninjas only reaffirmed that President Joe Biden won the state four years ago.
“Is election denialism a swindle?” Pelley asked Richer.
“Oh, 100% so for some people,” Richer responded.
2. Attacking a judge
Pelley asked Busch about being disqualified as a witness during one of Kari Lake’s attempts to sue the 2022 election into going her way. In response, Busch lashed out at the judge who nixed her as “obviously unqualified” to testify on election issues.
“That’s one judge’s opinion who is a radical leftist who is legislating from the bench,” Busch said.
It’s true that the judge in question, Maricopa County Superior Court judge John Hannah, was appointed by former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano. That doesn’t make him a “radical leftist,” of course, and it’s worth noting that Lake’s claims have come up just as short in front of much more conservative justices.
3. But it’s real to me
Pelley pushed Busch to give him an example — any example — in which election fraud in Maricopa County had been proven true. Fresh out of facts, Busch turned to feelings.
“(The election fraud) has been validated,” Busch said. “I don’t need a government official with a vested interest in disproving information to tell me what I have is valid.”
Lest anyone think Busch’s feelings are what decides elections, 60 Minutes then cut to an interview with conservative lawyer Ben Ginsburg. He said that while citizens have the right to challenge results in court, it’s a “Republican, conservative principle” that “you have to accept the ruling of the court.”
4. So many death threats
One of the more sobering moments of the segment came when Pelley played a voicemail Hickman received after certifying the 2020 election. In it, a caller threatened to “lynch your commie ass.” The man who made those statements is now in prison.
Hickman said he’s “lost count” of the number of death threats he’s received. “And so have my colleagues, and so have election workers.”
Notably, Hickman is one of several county supervisors who is not seeking reelection in the wake of the intense blowback about the 2020 election.
5. Interesting choice of words
Busch found infamy when video surfaced this summer of her threatening Richer at a public meeting in March. 60 Minutes played the clip.
“If Stephen Richer walked in this room,” she told the crowd, “I would lynch him.”
Speaking to Pelley, Richer rightly questioned why such a word would be in Busch’s vocabulary. “It's just a weirdly historically loaded and oddly specific term," he said.
When pressed to explain herself, Busch was less than convincing.
“I think many people are familiar with a political lynching,” she said before admitting that it was a poor choice of words. “It’s referred to as destroying someone’s career.”
She may have meant it that way, but that’s not what the term means. Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word is “to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal approval or permission.”
