{"id":78,"date":"2026-05-15T04:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=78"},"modified":"2026-05-15T04:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:32:19","slug":"gop-rival-takes-aim-at-u-s-house-hopeful-jay-feely-gets-real-racist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=78","title":{"rendered":"GOP rival takes aim at U.S. House hopeful Jay Feely, gets real racist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Since hopping into the race for the seat Rep. David Schweikert will be abandoning in Arizona\u2019s 1st Congressional District, former NFL kicker Jay Feely has quickly become a frontrunner. He\u2019s also picked up an endorsement from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Read more Phoenix fires off-duty cop who tried to bait student protesters<\/a><\/p>\n

Notably not<\/em> endorsed by Trump is Joseph Chaplik, a far-right former state lawmaker who is challenging Feely in the primary. Chaplik\u2019s campaign has struggled to gain traction against Feely\u2019s money machine. Earlier this month, amid that fight for relevancy, Chaplik decided to get blatantly racist.<\/p>\n

On May 7, Chaplik responded to a social media post from Feely, who\u2019d slammed Chaplik for missing votes as a lawmaker at the Arizona Legislature and for skipping a primary debate in the race. Chaplik, who is a member of the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, did that by taking aim at Feely\u2026 and at people from Haiti.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made life better for every citizen in CD1 serving you for 6 years in the state house,\u201d Chaplik wrote on social media. \u201cJay Feely has only missed field goals to the left\u2026.And imported Haitians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comment echoed racist conspiracy theories spread in 2024 by Trump and then-vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were killing and eating neighborhood pets. The story never had any validity, but it did set off a wave of demonization against people from the small, poor and primarily Black island nation.<\/p>\n

Feely, who did not respond to a request for comment from Phoenix New Times, took Chaplik\u2019s tweet personally. Feely has a strong connection to Haiti, having done church mission work there after it was rocked by an earthquake in 2010. Feely has also helped to bring some of the people he met there into the U.S. \u2014 legally \u2014 and set them up with non-governmental organizations for support.<\/p>\n

In a lengthy 11-post thread on X, Feely called Chaplik\u2019s comment \u201cracist.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more proud of the two young men that we brought into our family,\u201d Feely added, going on to write that \u201cfor @JosephChaplik to be so derogatory and racist toward this amazing journey tells you all you need to know. He is not worthy of representing Arizona in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feely has helped two brothers \u2014 Delmonte and Marc Wedner \u2014 immigrate to the U.S. and build lives in Arizona. Delmonte was a translator whom Feely met while doing mission work in Haiti. The two became friends, and Feely sponsored his education visa so he could attend Grand Canyon University and play soccer there. During that time, Delmonte lived in Feely\u2019s family\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 12 years since Delmonte came to the U.S. He\u2019s 34 now and a married homeowner in Arizona. He applied for citizenship, but is still going through the process of getting a green card, which he\u2019ll need for 10 years before he can become a citizen. In an interview Feely did with Delmonte (who sported a \u201cFeely 2026\u201d hat) with the right-leaning Substack The State 48 News, Feely said the process of Delmonte becoming a citizen \u201cshould be easier,\u201d adding, \u201cThey should have a much easier process to become a citizen because they\u2019re exactly who we want here in this country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can be ardently against illegal immigration, which I am, while still loving immigrants,\u201d Feely said during the March interview.<\/p>\n

\n

Chaplik cries \u2018race-baiting\u2019<\/h2>\n

Reached by New Times, Chaplik claimed that Feely\u2019s response was \u201crace-baiting\u201d and said his own post was \u201cspecifically in reference to the fact that Jay Feely personally claims to have worked with NGOs to bring Haitian migrants into this country for amnesty, but has done nothing for Arizona.\u201d He did not say what it is about Haitians, specifically, that he has a problem with. When New Times asked Chaplik to explain how the comment was not<\/em> racist, Chaplik spokesperson Ross Trumble directed New Times to a tweet Chaplik authored in response to Feely.<\/p>\n

Read more Phoenix cop shooting video raises questions: \u2018Why\u2019d you shoot her?\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the tweet, Chaplik appeared to deny the comments were racist and called Feely\u2019s thread a \u201cmiss by lying Jay Feely,\u201d whom he slammed for \u201cplaying the race card.\u201d He said his original post had \u201cNOTHING\u201d to do with the two Wedner men and everything to do with \u201cyour history of bringing large numbers of Haitian migrants to NGOs in an attempt to get amnesty here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Again, eliding the question: What\u2019s the problem with Haitians?<\/p>\n

In his response to Feely, Chaplik cited a video of Feely on the KTAR radio show \u201cOutspoken with Bruce & Gaydos\u201d as evidence of Feely supposedly ferrying Haitian migrants into the country. During an immigration discussion on the show, Feely said he \u201cbrings people in and actually has them live in my home,\u201d adding that he connects people \u201cto those NGOs that are helping them, but I believe it should be legally.\u201d He added that he\u2019s working with 12 people who are seeking asylum in the U.S. from Haiti.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s BS,\u201d Feely wrote in response to Chaplik, adding that the 12 people he mentioned were Delmonte\u2019s family members, who are still in Haiti with pending asylum applications. \u201cExploiting their pain for your political purposes is disgusting,\u201d Feely added.<\/p>\n

Chaplik also cited a video interview Feely did with Right Side Broadcasting Network ahead of Trump\u2019s April rally at Dream City Church, at which Feely was granted a speaking slot. Chaplik argued that Feely has a \u201chistory of opposing Trump on (Temporary Protected Status) for Haiti.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that interview, Feely was asked about the support of some Republicans in Congress for granting Haitians in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status, which protects migrants from deportation due to conditions in their home countries. The Trump administration has formally terminated the designation, but that decision is on hold as the Supreme Court weighs the issue. In the interview, Feely sidestepped the question and expressed concern over Republican \u201cfracturing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like the voters in my district (where I live, work and pray) I do not support amnesty for illegal immigrants,\u201d Chaplik said in a statement to New Times. \u201cNor do I support uncontrolled, unvetted migrations such as the TPS program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feely is also on the record as not supporting amnesty for people who came to the country illegally \u2014 a category that doesn\u2019t include the Haitian men he\u2019s helped or most of the Haitian migrants who enjoyed Temporary Protected Status. New Times also asked Feely\u2019s campaign about his stance on TPS for Haitians, but he didn\u2019t respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The back-and-forth with Chaplik reveals a potential fault line for Feely\u2019s campaign, which has hewed very close to Trump on most issues. Trump and his allies have not been shy about saying blatantly racist things about Haitians and other minorities, and Chaplik\u2019s views are probably not all that dissimilar from those of Trump\u2019s base. Notably, when the \u201cHaitians eat pets\u201d story was going around \u2014 including on a billboard paid for by the Arizona Republican Party \u2014 the subject was not addressed by Feely, who was not yet running for office.<\/p>\n

Feely found his voice when his intraparty rival took aim at him on the subject. What Feely would do if Trump were spewing anti-Haitian hate remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Read more Study: We\u2019ll all be dead before Maricopa County builds enough housing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arizona GOP candidate Jay Feely has helped two Haitian men come to the U.S. His challenger, Joseph Chaplik, says that’s a problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nGOP rival takes aim at U.S. House hopeful Jay Feely, gets real racist - Phoenix Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=78\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GOP rival takes aim at U.S. House hopeful Jay Feely, gets real racist - 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