PHOENIX — A state senator who complained about Democrats hosting a "drag story hour'' has lost his privileges to use Senate broadcast facilities after using them to do an interview with a talk show host who denies the Holocaust.

The revoking of privileges comes five days after Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, appeared on the Stew Peters show to talk about the April 30 story hour held in a basement meeting room of the House.

Speaker Ben Toma, R-Peoria, revoked the privileges of the Democrats to use meeting rooms after the story hour, saying he was misled about what they were planning. But that came after Kern called Toma out for failing to take action against the Democrats. Both are running for Congress from the same district.

And then Kern used Peters' show to blast the House speaker. "If he didn't know, one, that does show incompetence,'' Kern told Peters in the May 1 podcast.

On Monday, Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, reacted to Kern's use of the broadcast center located in the Senate and staffed with Senate-paid workers.

"The Senate president does not approve of how the senator chose to use legislative broadcast resources last week,'' said a spokeswoman for Petersen. "As a result, his (Kern's) privileges to use those resources for future interviews have been revoked.''

Petersen himself declined to say whether his decision to revoke Kern's privileges was because of what he was saying or with whom he was talking.

Kern refused to answer Capitol Media Services' questions of whether he thinks he did anything wrong in using a government facility to do an interview with someone who has declared Adolph Hitler a hero and has been openly anti-Semitic.

During the show, Kern referred to the story hour as a "perv show.'' Peters claimed the event included children, which is not true.

Peters also took shots directly at Toma, saying the speaker is either incompetent or "with the pedophiles.''

Kern has been a controversial figure.

He was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — he boasted about that on Peters' show — and has called reports of a riot there that day "a sham.''

Kern used his position as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to launch a probe in February against Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, saying there has been "a flood of questionable activity'' from her office.