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Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022

Did Blake Masters say he wants to fire any military officer who doesn’t agree with him politically?

Ngan Nguyen, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
no

Blake Masters, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona, has not said he wants to fire every military officer who doesn't share his politics, although he has called for the ousting of "woke" and "left-wing" generals.

In February 2022, he proposed “purging the military of left-wing generals” on the conservative podcast “Steak for Breakfast,” saying there were “a lot of center-right or apolitical colonels that we can promote” instead.

“It means getting rid of the woke stuff. It means getting back to the mission of lethality,” he said.

The following month, Masters claimed during an extended interview with an Arizona talk radio host that “every general above a two-star at this point is some kind of left-wing politician.” He again argued they “need to be fired and retired.”

News outlets including The Arizona Republic and Vice have obtained additional recordings of Masters making similar remarks at in-person events and online.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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