Controversial Actions and Statements:

On June 16, 2011, Rathner tweeted, “TUSD [Tucson Unified School District] smacked down over La Raza program. When will we get America back in our schools?” Rathner was referring to an optional course in Mexican-American Studies offered by the Tucson Unified School District, which is 60% Latino. The course—which is open to students of any ethnicity—may be discontinued under a 2011 Arizona state law, HB 2281, that bans classes designed for students of a particular ethnic group. Defenders of the course—which has been tied to higher academic achievement—have filed a lawsuit alleging that HB 2281 violates the free speech and due process protections of the U.S. Constitution.

On December 3, 2010, Rathner tweeted, “Looks like Campus Carry will be a big issue in AZ this year. Maybe people in these defenseless vicitms [sic] zones will now have some protection.” He was referring to SB 1467, a bill that sought to force the states’ public colleges and universities to allow students and faculty to carry guns on their campuses. After being amended substantially, the bill was passed by the Arizona state legislature and sent to Republican Governor Jan Brewer. She vetoed the legislation on April 18, 2011, however, calling the bill “poorly written.” Among those who opposed SB 1467 were the following: the Arizona Board of Regents; the presidents and chiefs of police of the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University, and; the Joint Council of Presidents of Arizona’s public community colleges and universities. "Guns have no place in schools," said Arizona State University President Michael Crow.

On December 3, 2010, Rathner tweeted, “Looks like Campus Carry will be a big issue in AZ this year. Maybe people in these defenseless vicitms [sic] zones will now have some protection.” He was referring to SB 1467, a bill that sought to force the states’ public colleges and universities to allow students and faculty to carry guns on their campuses. After being amended substantially, the bill was passed by the Arizona state legislature and sent to Republican Governor Jan Brewer. She vetoed the legislation, however, who calling it “poorly written.” Among those who opposed SB 1467 were the following: the Arizona Board of Regents; the presidents and chiefs of police of the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University, and; the Joint Council of Presidents of Arizona’s public community colleges and universities. "Guns have no place in schools," said Arizona State University President Michael Crow.

On Election Day 2010, Rathner tweeted, “For some reason there were no Black Panthers at my polling place this morning. I don't think they'd do well intimidating anyone in AZ!” Rathner was referring to two members of the New Black Panther Party who were accused by conservative media outlets of intimidating voters outside a polling station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Election Day in 2008. No complaints of voter intimidation were ever received from individuals at that polling station, however, and a criminal investigation of the matter by the Department of Justice was dropped during the George W. Bush administration.

On the eve of the November 2, 2023 congressional elections, Rathner tweeted, “Just hours till our "Hopey, Changey" experiement [sic] with socialism is over, I can almost hear the Constitution sighing with relief,” and, “I wonder how the ‘Astro Turf’ is gonna feel when [then-House Speaker] Nancy [Pelosi], [Senate Majority Leader] Harry [Reid], and BHO [President Barack Hussein Obama] land smack in the middle of it tomorrow.” Rathner was defending Tea Party organizations that had been accused of being “astroturf” (i.e., corporate-backed interests) rather than true grassroots groups. Hope and change were two persistent themes of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

On March 25, 2010, Rathner posted a photo of then-First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel Castro on his Facebook Wall with the caption “Well somebody's happy about Obamacare!” He was referring to the "Patient Affordability and Protection Act," which had been signed into law by President Barack Obama two days earlier.

Rathner lobbied for a 2005 bill that sought to allow concealed handgun permit holders in Arizona to carry loaded, concealed handguns into establishments that serve alcohol. The guns in bars bill was opposed by all major law enforcement organizations and a large segment of the tourism industry, including the Arizona Restaurant Association. The legislation was passed by the Arizona legislature, but subsequently vetoed by then-Governor Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. Rathner vowed that the legislation would come up again, and suggested that the Second Amendment rights of Arizona residents were being infringed upon if they could not carry guns into bars (in reality, laws prohibiting such behavior date back to Arizona’s Frontier Era. The bill did come up again, and was eventually signed into law in 2009 by Arizona’s Republican Governor, Jan Brewer. It took effect on September 30, 2009.