A crowd of Donald Trump supporters in Prescott Valley, Arizona, reacted with boos when Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) criticized a statement about “neighborliness” during a rally on Sunday. The event saw Crane delivering a fiery speech warning attendees about what he described as a creeping threat of socialism in America.
“Are you guys ready to stop the slow march towards socialism?” Crane asked, rallying the crowd. “Make no mistake about it, that’s who these people are,” he continued, referring to political opponents.
In an attempt to draw a connection between socialism and the current administration, Crane brought up a past remark by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who had been mentioned in a statement by Vice President Kamala Harris. Crane quoted Walz, saying, “[Vice President Kamala Harris] picked a vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz, who said that one man’s socialism is another man’s neighborliness.”
The mention of “neighborliness” drew an immediate negative response from the crowd, who booed loudly at the statement. The phrase seemed to touch a nerve among the rally attendees, many of whom have long associated socialism with government overreach and an erosion of personal freedoms.
Crane, undeterred by the crowd’s reaction, continued to drive home his message. He ended his speech by quoting a well-known Bible verse, linking his political stance to a call for divine intervention. “It says, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land,” Crane quoted, referring to 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Crane then concluded with a prayerful plea for the nation, asking for spiritual guidance to help steer America away from what he sees as dangerous ideological shifts. “God, Lord, I know I’m not the only one in this room that asks for your protection, your guidance, your wisdom,” he prayed. “We want you to be a part of this country. We want you to be a part of helping us turn this country around.”
The rally, featuring Crane’s strong rhetoric, highlighted the deepening divide between supporters of Donald Trump and the broader political spectrum, with the crowd’s reaction to the concept of “neighborliness” serving as a snapshot of the current political climate.