Trump-backed Mark Finchem kept a 'Treason Watch List.' He didn't exactly hide it

Arizonans can never say Mark Finchem duped them.

The Trump-backed Republican candidate for secretary of state hasn’t exactly kept his extreme views secret. In fact, he's been an open book, splashing them all over social media for years.

The latest? He kept a “Treason Watch List” on Pinterest, CNN reported.

Yes. Pinterest, the social media platform where users normally pin and share images and thoughts on food, fashion, dogs, gardening and the like.

But Finchem has something more sinister in mind and wants Pinterest users to know it.

Jesse Jackson, former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Janet Napolitano, the former Arizona governor and former secretary of Homeland Security, figured prominently on his “Treason Watch List.”

What else has he shared on Pinterest? He pinned posts comparing former President Barack Obama with Hitler, called for stockpiling ammunition and likened gun control to the Holocaust, CNN reports.

Shocking? No.

Finchem is a self-described member of the anti-government, far-right militia known as the Oath Keepers, attended the Jan. 6 rally, though he denies participating in the U.S. Capitol attack, and has splashed his extreme views all over social media.

What’s truly shocking is the fact that he got enough Republican votes to win the nomination for Arizona secretary of state. He’s facing Democrat Adrian Fontes in November.

The winner not only will oversee statewide elections but will be next in line as governor should the position become vacant for any reason – and it has recent decades when the governor resigned to take another job or was removed.

Finchem’s rise to power tells us a ton about the people who voted for him.

This is the guy peddling lies that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, who claims the U.S. is ruled by Satan and who played a role in the slate of fake Arizona electors that was used in an attempt to decertify the results.

None of that is new – not even the Pinterest stuff, which dates back a few years but still visible for anyone to see. Finchem has deleted his old Twitter account but has been an open book on his new one and at every other chance he gets.

The scary thing is the amount of people willing and ready to back him and others like him.

Elvia Díaz is the editorial page editor for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mark Finchem's 'Treason Watch List' says a lot about him and the GOP