Update (4/11/23): Mark Lamb filed paperwork to run for U.S. Senate.

Arizona sheriff Mark Lamb, who is reportedly expected to announce that he’s running for U.S. Senate, previously appeared on an antisemitic network that warns viewers about purported “seditious Jews,” a “Jew coup,” and “Jewish tyrants.” During the episode on which Lamb appeared, the network’s leader claimed that Jewish people “squash” and “crush” people.

Media Matters previously documented how Lamb, who is the Republican sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, has built his public profile through right-wing media, and has connections to far-right groups. He has also pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory. 

Lamb's time in the right-wing media swamps has included an August 2021 appearance on TruNews, a network that is dedicated to attacking Jewish people. Content on the site includes: “Jew Coup: Seditious Jews Orchestrating Trump Impeachment Lynching”; “TruNews looks at Jewish contribution to legalized abortion … We Delve Deeper Into The Origins Of Abortion And How It Has Become America’s Jewish Holocaust”; and “God has not forsaken the Jews. The Jews, however, have forsaken God.”;

The Twitter account AZ Right Wing Watch noted Lamb’s appearance at the time. 

TruNews is led by Rick Wiles, a virulent antisemite who has said of Jewish people: “That’s the way the Jews work. They are deceivers, they plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda. … You have been taken over by a Jewish cabal.” He has also claimed that “the American people are being oppressed by Jewish tyrants” and the impeachment of Donald Trump was a “Jew coup.” 

During the program Lamb appeared on -- but prior to his interview -- Wiles delivered a characteristic rant about Jewish people after an organization complained about him, stating: “This is what the Jews do against me every single day to squash, to squeeze anybody that is speaking up. They don't want anybody to tell the truth in this country. And they're using their power through the banks, through government agencies, through social media, whatever they've got, they're using their power to squeeze until there's nobody left with anything to say against them. And when they have crushed everybody, they will crush you.” 

Lamb appeared later on the program in an interview with Doc Burkhart and Lauren Witzke. Burkhart, who acts as Wiles’ sidekick, has attacked Jewish right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro because he is “Christ-denying” and “antichrist” and, in the words of TruNews, helped “expose the Jewish financial control that is holding the US and the world in slavery.” Witzke is a white nationalist and conspiracy theorist who has a history of bigoted remarks. She is also an ally of antisemite and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. (Witkze now works for pro-violence conspiracy theorist Stew Peters, who also has a history of pushing antisemitism, after she had a falling out with TruNews.) 

During his TruNews interview, Lamb discussed “his ban on Vaccine Mandates for his officers and an American’s right to privacy” and “the surge in opioid deaths as the Mexican cartels smuggle fentanyl-laced heroin across the Southern Border.”

Lamb used the appearance to attempt to burnish his right-wing credentials to TruNews’ audience with apparent success: TruNews headlined his appearance “Sheriff Lamb Stands Up To Vaccine Tyrants” and Witzke and Burkhart praised him for “fighting back” and “standing up” against vaccine mandates. 

Lamb could have easily found out about the antisemitic nature of the network by doing a simple Google search. TruNews had also been in the national media before his interview because of criticism over the Trump administration issuing press passes to the network and Donald Trump Jr. giving them an interview. (A spokesperson for Trump Jr. later distanced him from the network.) 

Lamb supported Witzke when she ran for U.S. Senate in Delaware, tweeting on July 30, 2020, after the two visited the U.S.-Mexico border: “It was so great to meet you! It means a lot that you would take the time to come see the issue firsthand. The people of Delaware would be lucky to have you.” 

The Republican sheriff will potentially match up against Kari Lake, who falsely claims her 2022 gubernatorial race was stolen from her. She last year endorsed an antisemitic commentator in the non-neighboring state of Oklahoma and then half-heartedly rescinded it after controversy. 

Media Matters has frequently documented how Republican officials have associated with antisemitic media figures. Several other Republican officials have appeared on TruNews, including Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers.