Bowers has drawn the ire of the Arizona Democratic Party, which criticized him earlier this month, and former President Trump. But he is unapologetic about his testimony to Congress and his decision not to overturn the Arizona results. “If we’re going to build a party and power and motivate people to solve problems, you can’t build it on a lie. Ultimately, that breaks down,” he told “This Week” co-host Jonathan Carl in an exclusive interview . at his home in Mesa, Arizona. Bowers faces Trump-backed candidate David Fansworth in an Aug. 2 primary that makes Bowers the first Republican to face voters since testifying before the Jan. 6 committee. “I’ve had people walk up and say, you know, just cold turkey, ‘I’m ashamed of you,’” she told Karl. Bowers says he was also called a “traitor” and told “the price of treason hangs.” In his June deposition, Bowers detailed several conversations with former President Trump and his then-personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, asking him to replace Arizona voters with those who would say Trump won the 2020 election. Biden won Arizona in 2020 by nearly 11,000 votes. “Have you ever considered following it?” Carl asked Bowers. “I said, this is new to me. The idea of rejecting the election of the president is like, okay, so what part of Jupiter can I land on and colonize?” Bowers said. Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers arrives for a House Select Committee hearing investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, June 21, 2022. Behind Bowers is Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Patrick Semanski/AP Giuliani “never” provided any evidence to support claims that thousands of dead people voted in Arizona, Bowers said. “You asked [Giuliani] for evidence of fraud?’ Carl asked. “Over and over again, and he said, ‘yeah, yeah.’ And he never gave us anything. No names, no details, nothing.” Bowers, who is term-limited in the state House, previously said it would take a “miracle” to win his bid for state senate. He told Carl “the demographics of my race are overwhelmingly Trump.” In an unusual move for a state legislative race, former President Trump campaigned against Bowers in Arizona. “Rusty Bowers, he’s a RHINO [‘Republican in name only’] coward who went against the Republican party in the all-partisan unselected committee of political thugs and hacks the other day, and embarrassed himself and embarrassed the state of Arizona,” he told a crowd in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on July 22. In response, Bowers told Carl, “Sometimes I’ve thought that somebody was born the way they were, raised the way they were — they have no idea what a hard life is and what people have to go through in the real world. They have no idea what the courage and the last place on Earth I would want to do harm would be the state of Arizona.” A fifth-generation Arizona native, Bowers held state public office for 17 years. Bowers, like other Republicans who have fallen out with the former president, has faced harassment and threats. “How do you explain the persistence it has, however, with Republicans, including many Republican leaders here in Arizona?” Carl asked Bowers. “Well, these leaders in Arizona are an interesting group in their own right. They rule by bully and intimidation,” Bauer said. “Well, you know, they, they’ve found a place, they’ve found a way and it’s fear. And people can use fear, demagogues like to use fear as a weapon. And they weaponize everything. “ After his testimony, Bowers faced criticism for telling a reporter that he would vote for Pres. Trump in 2024. He told Carl that’s absolutely not the case. A picture of former President Donald Trump is seen during the third hearing of the US House Select Committee to investigate the January 6 attack at the US Capitol, June 16, 2022. Drew Angerer/POOL/AFP via Getty Images “So, just to clarify, you’re not supporting Trump again?” Carl asked. “I’m not,” Bowers said. “My vote will never tarnish his name on a ballot.” “Will you never vote for Donald Trump again?” Carl repeated. “I will never vote for him,” Bowers replied. “But it won’t have to, because I think America is tired. And there are people who are absolutely dynamic, capable, morally, defensively, and upright. And that’s what I want. That’s what I want in my party. And that’s what I want to see.” When asked if former President Trump could ever be trusted in a position of power again, Bowers said, “I certainly would hope not. I certainly don’t trust that power that he would exercise.” Bowers echoed the words of the House committee’s Jan. 6 vice chairwoman, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Capitol uprising. “Liz also said that ‘the reality we face today as Republicans is that we have to choose to be loyal to Donald Trump or to be loyal to the Constitution.’ And you can’t be both,” Carl said. “I don’t see any question there. No question. The Constitution was designed to last and be the light of liberty throughout the world. It’s not a legacy I want to play with,” Bowers said. Bowers also told Karl that he has not been in touch with the Justice Department, which is conducting its own investigation into the Capitol attack, but would cooperate if asked. “I have nothing to hide and I want to tell the truth,” he said.
