Amish Shah’s Desperate Debate Flip-Flops Prove His Extremism Is Toxic With Voters

Amish Shah wants to represent Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, but even he knows his agenda is too extreme for voters, and after ducking out of the August 26 debate with Republican Jay Feely, radical socialist Amish Shah finally showed up to debate Feely last night. Shah, unsurprisingly, spent the debate lying to voters and flip-flopping on issues to hide his extremism — something he knows is toxic with Arizonans.

Shah denied that he campaigned for socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.

“I never campaigned for Bernie Sanders,” he said. But that’s just not true. Video shows Shah campaigning for Sanders at an “Arizona for Bernie 2020” event hosted by the Phoenix chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Shah is even listed on the event’s archived webpage. In his remarks, Shah said Sanders had an “authenticity.” 

“There was an authenticity about him that I think so many of us were drawn to; he was coming at it from with his heart,” Shah said. “That’s what drew me to his campaign.” Shah would go on to knock doors for Sanders. 

He also credited Bernie with reforming the Democrat Party. “The message is growing; it’s getting louder. What’s amazing is that this wasn’t really part of the conversation before Bernie came around,” he said. “And this has now become a national platform, and he’s taken the Democratic Party and, in my opinion, improved our platform.”

That’s campaigning for Bernie Sanders.

Shah also said it was “misinformation” that he supports single-payer socialist healthcare.

FACT CHECK:

Socialist Arizona Democrat @DrAmishShah calls it “misinformation” that he called for socialist government “single payer” healthcare

Here’s Socialist Shah ON VIDEO calling for socialist single payer healthcare pic.twitter.com/L4JTas9AvC

— NRCC (@NRCC) October 8, 2026

But at that same “Arizona for Bernie 2020” event, Shah praised socialized healthcare. “We have a system that is based on the free market, and there’s a lot things that are wrong with that,” he said. “No other industrialized country, a First World country, offers healthcare through a free market.” 

He admitted that socialized healthcare was “one of the first things that drew me to Bernie Sanders’ candidacy,” and that Sanders had “the economic security argument really nailed.” 

Shah was explicitly clear: “We need universal single payer Medicare for All throughout this country.”

During the debate Shah also claimed he opposed giving illegal aliens taxpayer-funded healthcare.

🚨 Socialist Amish Shah LIES to voters! Shah believes in giving taxpayer funded benefits to illegal immigrants. See for yourself ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/3R0sJVyqEG

— NRCC (@NRCC) October 8, 2026

That’s another lie. Shah supported giving illegal aliens taxpayer funded healthcare, and called for a “wholesale repeal” of the Working Families Tax Cuts — legislation that removed 1.4 million illegal aliens, including criminals, from Medicaid. Shah called the bill “abominable” as well as a “logistical failure, professional betrayal, a moral outrage, and a national disgrace.”

Shah also falsely claimed that he “voted for border security as part of the budget,” but his open borders record tells an entirely different story.

Socialist AZ Democrat Amish Shah LIES that “I voted for border security as part of the budget”

But the Arizona Republic fact-checked Shah, writing “Shah voted against budget that first established the Border Security Fund”

Shah voted for Kamala & voted for open borders pic.twitter.com/n4pM86sxsx

— NRCC (@NRCC) October 8, 2026

Shah opposed the Laken Riley Act, to apprehend and deport criminal illegal aliens, he called for the defunding of Border Patrol and border security, and he opposed Secure the Border Proposition 314. Even the Arizona Republic fact-checked Shah’s false border claims and found that Shah “voted against the budget that first established the Border Security Fund.”

Amish Shah even went so far as to claim he believes “the Biden administration failed at the border,” but Shah still voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris despite their many failures, including at the border.

He even lied about going after the drug traffickers who poison our communities with fentanyl, falsely claiming “I got no problems going after all those people who brought fentanyl in here.” But his record on fentanyl is just as phony as the rest. He voted against tougher penalties for manufacturing and possessing fentanyl and against legislation establishing drug trafficking a homicide crime.

And Shah even lied about a fake endorsement. Shah said he has support from the “Arizona Independent Party.” There’s just one problem: that party doesn’t exist.

Far-Left Amish Shah is STILL lying about being endorsed by the “Arizona Independent Party” that literally does not exist.

Does he really think Arizonians don’t know better? https://t.co/iQKpoL6E6J pic.twitter.com/gLpHrhZqWt

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 8, 2026

“Socialist Amish Shah’s desperate debate flip-flops prove he knows his socialism and extreme views are toxic with voters. But socialist Shah cannot Etch-a-Sketch his record away when it’s recorded votes and recorded video,” said NRCC spokesperson Ben Petersen.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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