Arizona Republican Party chairwoman and relentless election denier Kelli Ward announced on May 9 that she’s jumping into the NFT game. Her personalized NFT collection will be available for sale on May 16, with a new website advertising that fact while accompanying the announcement.
NFTs are unique digital tokens hosted on blockchain technology, available to trade and purchase. Over the last year, the market for NFTs has exploded — though it remains highly volatile, full of speculation, Ponzi schemes, and questionable actors.
And Ward is entering at a particularly sketchy moment for the industry. Last week, the Wall Street Journal pronounced: “NFT sales are flatlining.” Some tokens once valued at $400,000 are now worth half that.
The upheaval, it appears, did not put a pin in Ward’s plans. On Monday, she tweeted a graphic announcing the venture. It reads “liberty” and “America First” and features the Statue of Liberty with its face replaced with, yes, Ward’s own.
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Kelli Ward has a website that advertises her NFT collection.
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In place of the statue’s iconic torch, Ward thrusts a ballot up in the air. The ballot has two options: Donald Trump and “Let’s Go Brandon.”
In her arm, the statue carries a copy of Ward’s book, Justified, which tells the “story of America’s audit,” and which she dedicated to the former president.
The website for Ward’s NFT venture has much the same imagery, although in this case, Ward’s mouth on the statue is taped shut. “Own a piece of American history,” it says, without elaboration.
Many details about Ward’s NFT venture are still unclear: What’s the “mint price” of the tokens, or their initial price? How many will Ward be selling? What exact purpose do they serve? Ward did not reply to questions or an interview request from Phoenix New Times.
Ward, a physician in Lake Havasu City, has long been a prominent figure in Arizona politics. She has run, unsuccessfully, for U.S. Senate twice, and served for two years as a state senator. But it was her position as Republican Party chairwoman through the Arizona Senate’s “audit” that gave her a national platform.
Enough of a platform to make money off NFTs? That remains to be seen.
