Copper State Chaos: Biggs’ Backroom Bonus, No Grammys Here, and Wasn’t Inflation a Hoax?

Welcome to Copper State Chaos, Copper State War Room’s weekly recap on the fails, feuds, and full-blown chaos in the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary.

With Andy Biggs and David Schweikert locked in a bitter race to the bottom, this primary is spiraling into an ugly, expensive mess. We’ll keep the receipts – so you don’t have to.

Don’t miss this week’s chaos:

BIGGS’ BACKROOM BONUS: Donald Trump’s Department of Justice recently created a nearly $2 billion fund that could compensate convicted January 6 insurrectionists. Given Andy Biggs’ role in helping spearhead the violent insurrection, Arizonans deserve to know: will Biggs get a cut from the taxpayer-funded January 6 slush fund? David Schweikert said he was “very concerned about it.” However, he has spent years excusing these extremists as having “no malice in their souls.” For Biggs, there is no separating him from the insurrection he helped fuel. He called “portions” of January 6 “a setup,” worked with the White House to overturn the election, and pressured Arizona officials to decertify electors on the day of the attack. Afterward, he sought a presidential pardon for his role in the insurrection and then ignored a congressional subpoena to avoid accountability for his actions.

NO GRAMMYS HERE: Conservative radio host and Andy Biggs ally Garret Lewis torched Biggs’ latest campaign video as “horrible” and “so bad” the campaign should “delete it” entirely. He specifically warned Biggs that he was drawing attention to his own support for the war in Iran and the rising gas prices hurting Arizona families, saying: “Why would you [Biggs] want to open yourself up to rising gas costs when you [Biggs] support the president's war in Iran, which has obviously made gas costs go up significantly?” Lewis later admitted that “Andy Biggs is in lockstep” with President Trump and Washington Republicans as inflation and energy prices continue to rise because of the conflict.

WASN’T INFLATION A HOAX?: A new monthly report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that producer prices rose 6 percent between 2025 and 2026 – the highest increase in more than three years – thanks to the cost-hiking tariffs Andy Biggs and David Schweikert support. Biggs and Schweikert’s agenda caused grocery prices to soar faster in April than in any month in nearly four years. According to a recent Joint Economic Committee report, Arizonans paid an extra $2,200 for goods and services because of tariffs. Biggs has called tariffs “a brilliant economic strategy” and argued that the tariffs were “not inflationary,” before claiming that Washington has “tamed inflation.” Schweikert bragged about personally “doing the calculations” with the White House on tariffs and proposed his own new tax instead of offering Arizonans relief.

That’s all for Copper State Chaos this week. Thanks for reading – we’ll be back next week to keep tabs on the chaos. Have a great weekend!

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