Pinal Board Meets Scion of British Royalty!
FROM INMARICOPA.COM OTHER SOURCES: March 1st, 2025
A losing candidate for Maricopa’s seat on the Pinal County Board of Supervisors went on a wacky tirade during that board’s meeting last week, leaving Supervisor Rich Vitiello (R-Maricopa) perplexed and frustrated.
Tortosa resident Barry McCain went on the three-minute rant against current and former members of Maricopa City Council during the Wednesday meeting in Florence.
He said he wanted the council members to be held accountable for “bad, deceitful behavior.”
McCain was referring to Mayor Nancy Smith, Vice Mayor Henry Wade and Vitiello, a former vice mayor, in his rant, accusing them of … well, we’re not quite sure what.
He began his speech stating he was related to the King of France and the Queen of England, and he alleged his cousin was former Sen. John McCain (there’s no evidence of this. Also, McCain has long publicly claimed to be Black). He decried the “psychological manipulation and harassment” from Florida democrats in 2000 and quoted author James Baldwin.
The meandering had only just begun.
He asked, “How can we protect the vote and citizens’ rights with unqualified candidates?” then touted his military experience and went on a tangent about some legislation moving through the House and Senate right now — namely SB 1243 and SB 1163 — before (kind of) finally getting to his point.
(Editor’s note: In 2023, in my office, McCain told me the Military deployed him to Antarctica, where the U.S. was drilling for oil, and that he helped kill Libyan dictator Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in 2011. McCain was aged 56 at that time.)
“Each of these three used the same tactics that Florida democrats, in my humble opinion, violated repeatedly the first, fourth, thirteenth and fourteenth amendments because no one will represent voters and citizens with a hidden agenda,” McCain said of the Maricopa officials. “I have no trouble asking this board to hold each of these three accountable for their bad, deceitful behavior.”
For the curious, these amendments relate to free speech, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, slavery abolishment and granting birthright citizenship. It was unclear how the last three cited related to his public comment.
He also didn’t specify what bad behavior any of them exhibited, if at all.
The public comment left Vitiello feeling perplexed and irritated, he said.
“I don’t understand what he said,” the freshman supe from Cobblestone Farms told InMaricopa this morning. “I don’t know, I don’t understand. His aunt’s the Queen of England?”
He suggested it’s the ranting of a sore loser.
McCain failed to submit the minimum 115 signatures to run as a republican for District 1 supervisor during the 2024 primary election — he publicly said he accidentally destroyed the paperwork by spilling water on it — and spent a chunk of at least one Maricopa town hall attacking Vitiello with no real evidence.
He then ran as a write-in candidate but only 84 write-in votes were tallied. There’s no guarantee at least one of those write-ins wasn’t for Kanye West.
“After I announced that I was running, he started ragging on me that I’m a liar, I’m this, I’m that,” Vitiello said. “Then he came to a city council meeting and ragged on [Vice Mayor Wade].”
In addition to hassling the supervisor before and after the election, McCain has also called for Smith’s resignation, suggested elected leaders were “unqualified” and repeatedly accused council members of cronyism, nepotism and favoritism, but failed to state why he believed it.
McCain could not be reached for comment today.
During the meeting, Vitiello said he sent a cease-and-desist letter to McCain and may escalate the issue to a restraining order.
“I’m all for freedom of speech, but I won’t allow it to be used to lie and make up stuff,” he told us afterward. “He’s not getting anywhere. He’s making himself look foolish. I just want him to stop.”
