Republican Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers, who won her third term in a landslide in November, is known for her embrace of President-elect Donald Trump, debunked conspiracy theories, and reported ties to white nationalists.
[NOTE: Rogers was censured by the Republican-led Arizona Senate in 2022 for remarks she made at an America First Political Action Conference organized by Nick Fuentes, a vocal white nationalist.]
Emboldened by both her and Trump’s recent re-elections, Rogers filed a bill to rename Arizona’s State Route 260 the Donald J. Trump Highway.
Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers has filed a bill to rename Route 260, a super popular highway in the State, to “Donald J. Trump Highway.”
Cc: @WendyRogersAZ. pic.twitter.com/MQfUlXDkYi
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) January 10, 2025
It’s not unusual for states to name highways after presidents (there are 11 highways named after Ronald Reagan) but it usually happens after their political careers have ended or after their deaths.
Rogers has vowed to “stand up to the veto pen!” on the action, which is a reference to the veto power of Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, who won the 2022 gubernatorial race against Kari Lake, Trump’s pick to run the Voice of America. Lake retweeted Rogers’ post and wrote, “Great idea!”
//PLEASE RETWEET//
80,000 voters reelected me to the Arizona Senate to stand up to the veto pen!
They sent me to Phoenix to proudly represent THEM and I DO!
We absolutely should name SR260 the @realDonaldTrump Highway! pic.twitter.com/WrdkA7KfBy
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) January 10, 2025
In the bill which “urges” the Arizona Department of Transportation to designate the highway, Rogers claims Trump is worthy of the recognition for a long listing of reasons. Near the top of these are his efforts to build the border wall in his first term and his creation of the new Department of Government Efficiency, among other things.
Rogers describes DOGE’s mandate in her bill this way: “Whereas, Donald J. Trump has established the Department of Government Efficiency, which will dismantle government bureaucracy, eliminate excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies.”
The headline Rogers chose to circulate is from an article — published by the Phoenix New Times, which once named Rogers the “Best Racist Blowhard” — rife with blowback against the idea, noting that her bill “curiously neglects to mention that Trump did not actually build a wall spanning the entire southern border, nor did he make Mexico pay for it as he promised. It also excludes that Musk’s so-called DOGE agency isn’t actually a government department and has no real authority over anything.”