Real photo of
Kari Lake vacuuming the red carpet before
meeting Donald Trump. A member of team Kari
said she insisted on personally making sure
the carpet was spotless.
Failed
Alt-Right
2022
MAGA extremist election denier Republican candidate for Arizona
Governor. Experience:
Born in Illinois and
grew up in Iowa.
Lake worked as an anchor for KSAZ-TV (Fox 10
Phoenix) from 1994 to early 2021 and for other
anchor, weather and reporter roles for locations in
Illinois and New York). Kari Lake lost to Katie Hobbs by
17,000 votes in the
2022 General Election. Lake is running for election
to the U.S. Senate to represent Arizona. She is on
the ballot in the Republican primary on July 30,
2024.
"The Supreme Court
declined Monday to take up a case brought by
Republicans Kari Lake and
Mark Finchem over the use of voting
machines in Arizona elections, the latest
blow to the duo of GOP candidates who have
seen their lawsuit rejected several times.
Lake and Finchem asked the Supreme Court to
review a federal appellate judge’s decision
to dismiss their case last October. The suit
sought to block electronic voting machines
from being used in the state, questioning
their accuracy and reliability. Lawyers for
Lake, who is running for a Senate seat in
Arizona this cycle, and Finchem, who is
seeking a state Senate seat, argued in a
court filing to the Supreme Court that they
had sufficiently argued that all
“Arizona-certified optical scanners and
ballot marking devices, as well as the
software on which they rely, have been
wrongly certified for use”; Arizona’s voting
machines had been “hacked” and
“manipulated”; and that there were apparent
discrepancies in the Maricopa County’s vote
count after the 2020 election."
"Republican Senate
hopeful Kari Lake took criticism from
both flanks of the abortion debate during a
visit to the University of Arizona on
Thursday evening, as she and other
candidates navigate the fallout from this
week’s state Supreme Court decision
upholding
the
state’s Civil War-era abortion ban. Lake’s
flip-flop on the law — which she called a
“great law” in 2022 but now opposes
and is pushing fellow Republicans to repeal
— illustrates the tricky political position
she and other Republicans find themselves in
on abortion policy ahead of the 2024
election."
"in February 2022,
when Lake appeared at a candidate
forum while running for governor, her
thoughts on the near-total ban were much
different. “We have a great law on the books
right now,” Lake said of the old law, which
had become unenforceable under Roe v. Wade.
A month later, Arizona passed a 15-week ban
in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s
decision ultimately overturning abortion
protections.
If
Roe v. Wade was struck down, Lake said at
the time, “we will be a state where we will
not be taking the lives of our unborn
anymore.”"
"Richer celebrated it
as a victory. “For a person who both says
she never surrenders, and who claims she has
all the evidence at her disposal—I think
it’s fairly telling,” he said. In a tweet,
Richer called Lake’s motion a
“[c]omplete and total surrender on
liability” for defamation. “Meaning it was
always all B.S.,” he added."
"Kari Lake, the
Republican candidate for Senate in Arizona,
wants the Supreme Court to upend how
Americans vote by declaring it
unconstitutional for voters to cast their
ballots through electronic voting systems.
Attorneys for Lake and former Arizona state
Representative
Mark Finchem filed a petition with the
Supreme Court on Thursday, asking the court
to revive their 2022 lawsuit challenging the
use of electronic voting machines in
Arizona. It had been slammed by judges as
"frivolous" at the time. In the new filing,
attorney Lawrence Joseph asked the Supreme
Court to give the Arizona Republicans a do
over" [ . . . ] "The petition is the latest
development that continues to drag out the
now two-year fight over Arizona's election
system. The plaintiffs are asking the
Supreme Court to declare it unconstitutional
"for any public election to be conducted
using any model of electronic voting system
to cast or tabulate votes.""
Wade Searle poses
with Kari Lake at a
March 3 event that
Lake, a GOP
candidate for
Senate, held for
campaign volunteers.
"Kari Lake
grinned widely and flashed a
thumbs up as she posed for a
photo March 3 with a far-right
political operative who is
reportedly a fervent follower
and close associate of white
nationalist Nick Fuentes. A few
days before the event for
campaign volunteers, Wade
Searle, who worked as the
digital director for U.S. Rep.
Paul Gosar until shortly after
he was unmasked as one the
“strongest soldiers” for white
nationalist leader Nick Fuentes,
was standing almost directly
behind Lake at a press
conference where Wyoming U.S.
Sen. John Barrasso endorsed
her." [ . . . ] "Searle was
outed by Talking Points Memo in
May 2023 as a prominent member
of the “groyper” movement, the
name for a collection of young
white nationalists who use
online trolling tactics and aim
to normalize extreme and racist
views by aligning them with
Christianity and so-called
“traditional” values."
"Arizona US Senate
Candidate Kari Lake’s recent
financial disclosures reveal the former news
anchor has taken advantage of both internal
and external opportunities to increase her
personal wealth. In addition to bringing in
over $75,000 in speaking fees for
appearances at political events in 2023,
ZenVideo, a business owned by Lake and her
husband, Jeff Halperin, was paid just over
$8,000 from her campaign for video
production services, according to the
Federal Elections Commission." [ . . . ] "Halperin
is known to be a staple of Lake’s political
work. Often seen at her side with a camera,
his videos are used as social media posts to
promote her campaigns. And, while Lake has
solicited the services of other video
production companies for her Senate
run—$5,500 to AZ Media, Inc., and $550 to
Charles Lemmon Cinematography—the lion’s
share of her video production budget has
been reserved for family."
"Kari Lake is
going to have to defend herself in court
against claims she defamed Maricopa County
Recorder Stephen Richer. In a brief order,
the Arizona Supreme Court rejected arguments
by the failed 2022 gubernatorial candidate
that she had a constitutional right to make
the comments that she did about Richer and
the way he conducted the 2022 election she
lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs. And even if
they were not true, she said, she either
believed that they were or that the claims
were mere "hyperbole," both of which she
said are protected against defamation
claims." [ . . . ] "That means Lake's free
speech arguments have now been rejected by a
trial judge, the state Court of Appeals and,
now, the state's high court. That leaves her
nowhere to go other than back to trial."
"Arizona
Republican Senate candidate
Kari Lake is getting slammed
for a racist social media post
about
Nikki Haley. After the
former South Carolina governor
suspended her presidential
campaign on Wednesday, the
failed Arizona gubernatorial
candidate and unhinged
conspiracy spouter made a post
on X, formerly Twitter, to mark
the occasion. Refusing to refer
to Haley by her middle name,
“Nikki,” which she uses
professionally, Lake instead
called Haley “Nimrata,” a
misspelled version of her birth
name, “Nimarata,” in the post."
"Republicans spent
decades staking out increasingly extreme
positions on abortion, while at the same
time shooting down family-supporting
initiatives like child tax credits, paid
parental leave, prenatal care, and
government-subsidized child care. But now,
as it becomes abundantly clear that their
extreme forced-birtherism is marginally less
popular than the raw vegan tapas booth at
CPAC, they’re trying to pretend they’re not
Republicans. Now the GOP’s conspicuous flip-floppery
has found its exemplar in U.S. Senate
candidate Kari Lake. Lake—a key
proponent of the Big Lie who denied the
election results in her own losing Arizona
gubernatorial bid—wants us to believe she’s
had a genuine change of heart when it comes
to forcing her would-be constituents to give
birth to babies they don’t want. In a new
interview with NBC News, Lake tried to
distance herself from her past forced-birth
positions like Quint scurrying away from the
shark at the end of “Jaws.” Maybe the
interview wasn’t quite as gruesome as that
scene, but then “Jaws” wasn’t filmed through
six layers of gauze and enough Vaseline to
squeeze a Clydesdale through a cat door."
"Arizona Senate
hopeful and inveterate election denier
Kari Lake pulled off a coup of her own
last month, dethroning the chair of the
state’s Republican Party after disclosing a
recording of what Lake described as a bribe
offer last year to keep her out of the race
to claim the seat currently held by
independent Sen.
Kyrsten Sinema. At the time the
recording was made, Lake still had a
financial connection to that ousted GOP
chair, Jeff DeWit—via
a campaign tech startup closely tied to a
top MAGA-world nonprofit, a company whose
most notable characteristic is a glaring
absence of a political paper trail. In fact,
that startup—called “Superfeed Technologies,
Inc.”—had its authority to do business
revoked by the state of Arizona while it
employed both DeWit, its former CEO, and
Lake, who reported receiving more than
$100,000 from the entity in the personal
financial disclosure she filed last month."
"For the second time
in a month, Senate candidate Kari Lake
is scheduled to hold a fundraiser hosted by
someone who has promoted the QAnon and other
fringe conspiracy theories online." [ . . .
] "Lake and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the
chair of the Senate Republican Conference,
are scheduled to appear Thursday at a
fundraiser hosted by Monica and Brad Litle,
according to an event invitation obtained by
The Arizona Republic." [ . . . ] "Monica
Litle has expressed support online for
several conspiracy theories not backed by
evidence, according to a review of her
social media."
"Meghan McCain said on
Wednesday she isn’t buying Kari Lake’s
claim that all of her jabs at John McCain
were merely jokes. “My entire take on this
situation is just that the internal polling
for Kari Lake’s campaign must be just
staggeringly awful and scary to them when it
comes to Independents and McCain Republicans
not voting for her,” she said during a
Wednesday interview with KTAR News 92.3 FM’s
Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos. “There is a
giant swath of Arizonans who will never vote
for this woman in no small part because of
how much she has attacked my dad, who is a
beloved Arizona icon,” she added."
"Lake was asked
who stole the election from her and how they
did it. She noted that she wasn’t the one
raising the issue, then conceded she lacked
the details of the 'rigged' election she has
widely discussed," reported Ronald Hansen.
"'I don’t want to sit and look backwards,'
Lake said. 'These lawsuits are meant to make
sure that going forward our elections are
strong.' Pressed again on her allegation of
theft, Lake said the elections 'are run very
poorly.'" During the interview,
Lake
also suggested the United States should
abandon Ukraine and claimed that using
medication for abortion puts women's health
in danger."
"Arizona Republican
Kari Lake, the likely GOP nominee for
Senate in Arizona, is headlining a campaign
fundraiser hosted by the wife of
controversial “finfluencer” Grant Cardone
this month in Texas. Elena Cardone is the
longtime spouse of Grant Cardone, who
oversees a real estate investment empire he
claims is worth billions. Grant Cardone and
the firm he founded, Cardone Capital, have
faced scrutiny and a string of lawsuits over
the alleged exploitation of renters and
accusations that Cardone — who has 7 million
Facebook followers and millions who follow
him on other social media platforms —
overhyped his investment fund and lured
followers into expensive contracts for his
programs. HuffPost reported, in a lengthy
investigation in July, that “court records
from lawsuits involving Grant Cardone’s
training programs include claims from former
clients who say they were trapped into
lengthy, inflexible contracts that they were
unable to pay for or get out of.” But none
of the legal cases so far appear to have
resulted in a determination of wrongdoing
against Cardone Capital."
"Arizona Republicans
have turned on failed gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake as she seeks the
nomination for U.S. Senate." [ . . . ] "“I
don’t trust her — I am done,” said Barbara
Wyllie, an 81-year-old lifelong Republican
who turned on Lake after a recording leaked
against the state GOP chair." [ . . . ]
"“When she did that to
Jeff DeWit, it’s like, ‘Okay, she’s
wired for everybody,” Wyllie said."
"Kari Lake, the
Republican Senate frontrunner, was scheduled
Friday to attend a fundraiser hosted by two
donors who have expressed support for the
far-right conspiracy theory known as
"QAnon." [ . . . ] "The donors, Caryn and
Michael Borland, have promoted the “QAnon”
conspiracy theory, a belief system centered
on claims made by an anonymous individual
known as “Q” that holds that former
President Donald Trump is fending off forces
of evil within the government, often
involving child sex trafficking." [ . . . ]
"According to a copy of the event invitation
obtained by The Arizona Republic, the
fundraiser was set for Friday evening at the
Borlands’ home in Prescott. The price of
tickets ranged from $50 up to $13,200 per
person."
"Arizona US Senate
Candidate Kari Lake reported $75,000
in speaking fees last year, directly
contradicting claims by her campaign that
she isn’t paid for public speaking.
According to Lake’s Jan. 30 financial
disclosure, she received payment for the
following speaking arrangements in 2023..."
"Former President
Donald Trump and failed Arizona
gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake
were blasted by columnist E.J. Montini in
The Arizona Republic Wednesday for relying
on — and fighting to perpetuate — chaos at
the border as a "campaign strategy." This
comes as President Joe Biden and Senate
Republicans have struck up a bipartisan plan
that would tighten border security and
implement several GOP policy goals — but it
appears headed for a dead end as Trump
heavily lobbies House and Senate Republicans
to kill the deal and Speaker Mike Johnson
(R-LA) has said he's unlikely to allow it a
vote. "A
bipartisan deal to address the border
problem is the best thing for the country,"
wrote Montini. "But it is the worst thing
for Donald Trump, who has made the border
crisis the key element — if not the only
element — of his campaign. The same is true
of sycophants like U.S. Senate candidate
Kari Lake, who follows, head bowed, in
Trump’s footsteps.""
"Arizona Republicans
let Kari Lake have it this weekend as
they hurled boos and jeers her way at a
state GOP meeting following a scandal
involving her and the now-former head of the
state’s party."
"“[Obama] created so
much division,” said Brown. “These DEI
programs – they’re negative for everybody,
including Black Americans. Ben Carson was
one of the all-time great surgeons. Yet now,
because of DEI, when you see a black surgeon
you get a question in your mind. What you
want, is you want the blacks that are on
top, that do succeed, to be there on their
merit.” No longer trafficking in dog
whistles, Brown is just saying the qui[e]t
part out loud."
"The head of the
Arizona Republican Party,
Jeff DeWit, alleged today former
gubernatorial candidate and presumptive
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari
Lake blackmailed him into resigning.
DeWit’s resignation follows a leaked audio
recording where he offered Lake employment
or a “number” to step out of politics.
Lake’s audio recording and DeWit’s
subsequent departure comes days before the
party’s statewide mandatory meeting and
signals a growing schism in the state and
national party. "
"Lake’s
superpower is that she can spew insanity
with a telegenic smile, whether she’s
insisting that Trump was “the real winner of
Arizona” in 2020, calling for journalists to
be locked up, defending the Jan. 6
insurrectionists or claiming that an
unspecified group of “evil people” pushing a
“globalist agenda” have “unleashed viruses”
and “tried to shut down the country.”"
"“Arizona clearly
states that no proof of citizenship is
required for federal elections,” wrote Musk,
who owns the social media platform X,
formerly known as Twitter. The claim was
misleading. States aren’t allowed to set
those kinds of rules for federal elections,
and, as Maricopa County Recorder Stephen
Richer pointed out in response, Arizona is
the only state with any proof of citizenship
requirement for state-level elections.
Still, Kari Lake, the former
gubernatorial candidate now running for U.S.
Senate, took Musk’s comment in stride. “This
is why they had to stop me. My plan to shut
down the human smuggling and their open
borders policies would thwart their agenda
to register illegal voters,” said Lake, who
continues to insist without evidence that
she was the rightful winner of Arizona’s
2022 governor’s race."
"Lake on
Thursday offered up the mother lode of
conspiracy theories, revealing that “they”
unleashed COVID-19 in order to stop
Donald Trump from getting reelected.
Sadly, Lake didn’t disclose who “they” are.
The Jews? The Chinese? Maricopa County
Recorder Stephen Richer? Lizard people?
Heck, maybe they’re all in on it. But she
made it clear that there is only one person
who can save us."
"During her journalism
career, Lake made several statements
supporting trans youth. However, throughout
her political career,
Lake
has become anti-trans, expressed anti-LGBTQ+
views, and made derogatory comments about
the LGBTQ+ community. During her 2022
campaign, she appeared in an ad with a
pastor who called LGBTQ+ people “child
molesters.”"
"Despite losing all of
her court cases challenging Arizona’s
gubernatorial election results, the
polarizing politician claimed Sunday she’s
exposed her state’s fraudulent vote counting
process to the world."
"Senate candidate
Kari Lake in recent weeks has issued a
flurry of congratulations and sympathy
towards participants in the Jan. 6, 2021,
attack on the U.S. Capitol, in which a mob
of supporters of former President
Donald Trump violently entered the
Capitol grounds in an attempt to prevent
Congress from certifying the result of the
2020 presidential election. Like some other
Republicans, Lake has suggested that
prosecution of Jan. 6 participants is
politically motivated, despite a wealth of
evidence and court judgments that many
participants broke the law that day."
"Election lawyers for
failed 2022 Republican candidate for
governor of Arizona, Kari Lake
continue to face disciplinary action over
their efforts to overturn the result of
Lake’s election. AZ Central reported on
Wednesday that Kurt Olsen, Bryan Blehm, and
Andrew Parker were all order probable cause
orders this week by the Attorney Discipline
Probable Cause Committee to advance
investigations into their conduct that would
likely lead to some kind of public
discipline. “All three have previously been
sanctioned by judges in Arizona"
"Senate candidate
Kari Lake is no longer cheerleading the
near-total abortion ban at the center of a
Texas legal fight. Lake once said she would
sign an Arizona version of the Texas law “in
a heartbeat.” Kate Cox, a Dallas-area woman,
petitioned a judge to grant her an exception
from Texas' abortion restrictions after her
fetus was diagnosed with a fatal genetic
abnormality. The Texas Supreme Court on
Monday ruled against Cox, overturning a
lower court's ruling.
While campaigning for Arizona governor,
Lake, a Republican, praised Texas’ abortion
law, which is one of the most
stringent in the country. "
"In key 2024
battleground states, some
Republican Senate hopefuls have
quietly shifted elements of
their abortion positions." [ . .
. ] "Lake — who could end
up in a three-way general
election against independent
Sen.
Kyrsten Sinema and
Democratic challenger Ruben
Gallego — was one of the first
and most prominent Republicans
to shift her position on the
abortion issue."
"An Arizona Republican
who ran against Kari Lake for
governor,
Matt Salmon, said he would not consider
supporting her without "an engraved apology"
for her past interactions with him." [ . . .
] "Short of an engraved apology, I wouldn't
consider helping her with anything," Salmon
told The Washington Post. "She employs the
politics of personal destruction, and she'll
say anything—the most vile things in the
world—to get ahead. And I'm sorry, I just
can't forget that.""
""A judge has rejected
Kari Lake’s request to examine signed
ballot envelopes of 1.3 million early
voters, giving the defeated Arizona
Republican candidate for governor another
loss in her third trial related to last
year’s election. In an order filed Thursday,
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John
Hannah Jr. argued their release would
undermine the ballot verification process in
future elections. “The broad right of
electoral participation outweighs the narrow
interests of those who would continue to
pick at the machinery of democracy,” Hannah
wrote." [ . . . ] "Lake is among the most
vocal of last year’s Republican candidates
promoting former President
Donald Trump’s election lies, which she
made the centerpiece of her campaign. While
most other election deniers around the
country conceded after losing their races in
November, Lake did not. She is openly
considering a run for the U.S. Senate and is
regarded as a contender to be Trump’s
running mate in his 2024 campaign."
"Now that it's become
clear to the MAGA party that an outright ban
on abortions at either the state or federal
level is a losing strategy, fake Arizona
Governor Kari "Soft Focus" Lake has
taken a U-turn and is now pretending she's
always been in favor of granting certain
exceptions for abortion."
"Kari Lake's
string of defeats continues as the
Donald Trump ally and losing Arizona
gubernatorial candidate's bid to have the
Arizona Supreme Court hear her election
lawsuit was rejected unanimously. Lake, a
former TV news anchor, had previously tried
to skip the Arizona Court of Appeals and go
directly to the State Supreme Court as she
tried to call for a new election or be named
the governor despite the state finding no
evidence of the widespread voter fraud she
had been claiming." [ . . . ] "the Supreme
Court rejected Lake's appeal, with Justice
Bill Montgomery writing in the ruling,
"Appellant Lake does not show good cause for
transferring the appeal from the court of
appeals, where the matter has been fully
briefed.""
The failed Republican
gubernatorial
candidate-turned-Senate-candidate in Arizona
has seemingly attempted to take a less
extreme approach on some issues this time
around in an effort to woo voters. But a new
court filing submitted on her behalf should
end speculation that she’s anything but a
far-right conspiracy theorist. And that’s
because Lake is still trying to have
a court reverse her gubernatorial election
loss last year as she wages a bid for a
completely different office. The filing
Wednesday claims a court “can and should set
aside” the 2022 election results, in which
Lake lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs by more
than 17,000 votes. Lake’s filing asks the
Arizona Court of Appeals to vacate the
certification of last year’s gubernatorial
election and order a revote.
" The failed
gubernatorial candidate "has begun reaching
out to Republicans she attacked last year,
trying to mend the relationships she
shredded," according to the report, however,
it's still "unclear" whether her attempt to
attract necessary GOP support will succeed.
"Lake's bid to make nice could pay off if it
at all weakens
Sinema's appeal with the more
moderate wing of the Republican Party,"
Politico notes," but "Sinema has not decided
whether she will run but she has strong
relationships with centrist Republicans in
the state, particularly those in the mold of
the late Sen.
John McCain." Ex-Arizona state
House Speaker
Kirk Adams, a Republican, commented,
"Will those traditional Reagan-McCain voters
trust the new Kari Lake? That's a
good question. She went out of her way to
offend that group of voters, and she wore it
as a point of pride, and I don't know if
people will change their opinion of her.""
"U.S. Senate candidate
Kari Lake has embraced numerous
antisemitic media figures in the relatively
short time that she has been in politics.
These figures have said that Jewish people
are “lethal enemies of Americans” and “must
be stopped and then scoured from the
continent”; defended the Nazis as
“protecting their sovereignty”; and said,
"I'm not beholden to Jews.” Lake is part of
a trend of Republican politicians who have
promoted antisemitic media, as Media Matters
has documented. In Arizona alone, Rep.
Paul Gosar and state Sens.
Wendy Rogers and
Janae Shamphave promoted media outlets
or figures that have praised Adolf Hitler."
"A federal appeals
court rejected an attempt by 2022 GOP
candidates Kari Lake and
Mark Finchem to stop Arizona’s use of
electronic voting machines, saying the
claims did not raise a “real and immediate”
threat of voter fraud. The ruling Monday by
a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals upheld a 2022 U.S. District
Court decision to dismiss the suit on the
same grounds. It was the latest defeat for
Lake, the failed Republican nominee for
Arizona governor, and Finchem, the party’s
failed nominee for secretary of state, who
have mounted numerous legal challenges to
their defeats. Finchem said Tuesday that he
is “not at liberty” to comment on the
ruling. Lake, who recently announced a 2024
bid for U.S. Senate, did not immediately
respond to a request for comment."
"You may think Kari
Lake's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, a
self-described "proud election-denying
deplorable" who lost the governor's race in
2022 to Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000
votes while maintaining she was the real
winner of that contest. But despite her pile
of dismissed lawsuits challenging the
governor's race and her sluggish book sales,
she still made out like the second coming of
Willie Sutton, raising more than $2.5
million even after Hobbs kicked her tuchis
in the general election. Now she's gearing
up to run for the U.S. Senate in 2024, and
thanks to the political hubris of Arizona's
now-Independent Sen.
Kyrsten Sinema, it's
shaping up to be a three-way race, with Lake
as the likely Republican nominee, U.S. Rep.
Ruben Gallego as the Democratic nominee and
Sinema running for reelection as an indie.
Does this mean Lake, a polished, telegenic
fanatic if there ever was one, could be
headed for a seat in the hallowed halls of
D.C.'s most exclusive club? Who'd bet
against her? With a three-way split in the
race, you'd be crazy to do so — unless
Sinema unexpectedly takes a powder and
doesn't run in 2024. Here's hoping there
really is a Santa Claus, because we know
what we want for Christmas this year."
"Failed gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake and secretary of
state candidate
Mark Finchem want a Ninth Circuit Court
of Appeals panel to reconsider the dismissal
of their lawsuit seeking to ban electronic
voting systems." [ . . . ] "But attorneys
for Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and for
Maricopa and Pima Counties point out
Lake
and Finchem have yet to cite any evidence of
hacked tabulation machines in Arizona."
"Ahead of Thursday
night’s game, the Kansas City Boys and Girls
Choir performed the song “Lift Every Voice
and Sing,” which is considered by many as
the “Black National Anthem.” The song was
sung throughout the Civil Rights Movement
and has become and important part of Black
history in America. But conservative
politician Kari Lake was not happy
that it was played before Thursday night’s
game." [ . . . ] "“I hear the @NFL is still
trying to force this divisive nonsense down
America’s throats. I won’t stand for it.
Literally,” Lake said in her post,
re-sharing a photo of her sitting during the
playing of the song at the Super Bowl back
in February."
"Failed
Arizona gubernatorial candidate
Kari Lake (R) is primarily known
for being a vocal election
denier and one of Donald Trump’s
most loyal supporters. That is
why she is considered to be on
the short list of the former
president’s potential running
mates in the 2024 election. This
week, she showed why she is so
popular in the MAGAverse by
taking to Twitter to make a
statement that, even in today’s
toxic political environment, is
so reprehensible and
mean-spirited that it needs to
be highlighted and filed away."
"Kari Lake is
knowingly spreading false information about
the woman who beat her out for the
governorship of Arizona, according to a
local news columnist. Lake, who has
repeatedly been called out for spreading
fake news about her political opponents,
recently claimed Democrat Governor Katie
Hobbs "ran a sham election" and that she's
now "using her illegitimate office to order
her illegitimate AG to INDICT" Donald Trump.
This, Lake says, is "a threat to democracy.”
The only problem? Hobbs doesn't have the
power to "order" such an indictment, and
Lake knows that, according to AZCentral."
“I have a message
tonight for Merrick Garland, and Jack Smith,
and Joe Biden. And the guys back there in
the fake news media, you should listen up as
well, this one’s for you,” she said at a
speaking event in Georgia. “If you wanna get
to President
Trump, you’re gonna have to go
through me, and you’re gonna have to go
through 75 million Americans just like me.
And most of us are card carrying members of
the NRA."
"A
Maricopa County Superior Court
judge ruled against Kari Lake
again on Monday.
According to court records,
"Plaintiff did not demonstrate
any lack of compliance with
statute or the EPM," the ruling
explained. Though it did
acknowledge that she brought a
"signature verification expert,"
but there was "no statutory or
regulatory requirement that a
specific amount of time be
applied to review any given
signature at any level of
review."
Lake
had the requirement to
demonstrate “clear and
convincing evidence,” to support
her case. It's something the
judge noted she hasn’t yet done
in her lawsuits"
"The Arizona Supreme
Court ordered defeated GOP gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake's attorneys pay
$2,000 in sanctions for making an
"unequivocally false" claim that more than
35,000 ballots were "injected" into Maricopa
County's total after the election."
"Failed Arizona
gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is
being criticized for essentially calling for
an end to the Republican primary and a
declaration that former president
Donald Trump is the winner who should
take on Biden. Lake's Kari Lake War Room
Twitter account recently posted that Trump
"has proven his conservative bonafides,"
simultaneously declaring that he "is going
to win this primary by a considerable
margin." Lake is known for her faulty claims
of election fraud."
"Kari
Lake and her lawyers are
asking the Arizona Supreme Court
not to sanction them for their
election challenge case because
Lake “honestly believes that
electoral misconduct and illegal
votes determined the outcome of
the 2022 gubernatorial
election.”
The
Supreme Court invited the
defendants in Lake’s case, Gov.
Katie Hobbs and Secretary of
State Adrian Fontes, to request
sanctions against Lake and her
legal team for bringing
frivolous claims to the courts
that aren’t supported by the
facts.
Lake
is a Trump-endorsed Republican
and 2020 election denier who
lost the November race for
Arizona governor to Hobbs by
more than 17,000 votes. Since
the election,
Lake has continued to assert,
without evidence, that she
is the true governor and
that her loss was owed to
intentional malfeasance from
election officials who didn’t
follow proper procedures."
A Jan. 23 Instagram
post (direct
link, archived
link) from former
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake
shows a claim about purported election fraud
in the 2022 midterms. "Officials sabotaged
Election Day," the caption reads. "On
November 8th – when 75% of votes were
for @KariLake – nearly 1/4 of a MILLION
voting attempts FAILED, according to the
system log files that were obtained via FOIA."
The post generated nearly 43,000 likes in
less than a week. Lake shared the same
claim on Twitter, where it accumulated over
22,000 likes.
The latest Arizona
Public Opinion Pulse (AZPOP) survey by OH
Predictive Insights' on Thursday showed that
among three-quarters of voters polled said
that there is no evidence of election fraud.
This includes 93 percent of Democrats, 58
percent of Republicans, and 76 percent of
independents. [...] "Regardless of the
narrative of a stolen gubernatorial election
coming from Kari Lake, the acceptance
of Katie Hobbs' win is shared in majorities
across party lines," said Mike Noble, chief
of research and managing partner of OH
Predictive Insights. "In fact, voters are
20% more sure that the Governor's race was
accurate than they are confident in the
midterm elections as a whole."
Lake chatted with
hosts who implied Christians might need to
resort to “bloodshed” and who called for
attacks to “destroy” Pfizer over “Satanic”
COVID vaccines.
Arizona statute is
very clear about when and where a voter
signature can be shared or replicated or
reproduced, or put online or used in social
media," said Tammy Patrick, chief executive
for programs at the National Association of
Election Administrators and a former
Maricopa County elections official "The
answer to all of those things basically is,
'Never' and 'Not' and 'It can't be,' with
very few exceptions." [...] "Under Arizona
law, "The records containing a voter's
signature...shall not be accessible or
reproduced by any person other than the
voter." A violation of the law is a Class 6
felony that could carry jail time.
"Here’s a new strategy
for Kevin McCarthy as he gradually realizes
he should have spent the past 15 years
working on the world’s largest ball of twine
instead of trying to be speaker of the
House: He should just say he won and is
already speaker! Italian satellites have
downlinked to Matt Gaetz’s head and are
forcing him to do weird things. A loose,
feral panda ate a shipment of bamboo ballots
and has been crapping out counterfeit
Boebert brains like watermelon Pez. Dude!
Just say you won! After all, mouth-frothing
delusion is the Republican way. Enter Kari
Lake, the answer to a question no one has
asked for almost two months now. Her Arizona
gubernatorial bid ended in mid-November, but
she’s persisted in her delusions with a Trumpian tenacity that would be simply
adorable coming from a 6-year-old. The
difference being that a 6-year-old would
eventually move on to more productive
endeavors, like eating random wads of
Play-Doh and refusing to climb into the back
of Ted Cruz’s windowless white van. But Lake
has shown no such maturity, and as the
actual Arizona governor-elect, Katie Hobbs,
prepared to be inaugurated on Thursday, Lake
was once again raging against the dying of
the filtered light. On the right-wing
network Real America’s Voice, which is
essentially what Fox News would be if they
wore their Hitler Underoos on the outside of
their pants, Lake confidently asserted that
she was the “duly elected governor” of
Arizona. Because why the fuck not, huh?
Arizona gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake (R) is appealing a
Maricopa County judge’s decision to dismiss
her lawsuit challenging her midterm
defeat. Lake filed a notice of appeal
Tuesday in Arizona Superior Court to contest
the dismissal of two counts that went to
court for a two-day trial as well as other
counts that never made it to trial. The
short trial found that she didn’t have
enough evidence to back up her claims that
local election officials committed
intentional misconduct that impacted the
race between Lake and Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs
(D), which Lake lost by some 17,000 votes.
A judge has ordered
Kari Lake, the Republican who lost the
Arizona governor’s race, to pay $33,000 in
fees for witnesses who helped defend
election officials against Lake’s failed
challenge of her defeat to Democrat Katie
Hobbs
The only thing Kari
Lake revealed in her post-election lawsuit
was her own serious limitations. And now she
is damaged goods." [...] Kari Lake went to
court to reveal what she believes were
shadowy forces that manipulated the Arizona
electoral system and stole from her the
governor’s seat. She had no case. She had no
evidence. But she did reveal something
important about herself. Her extreme
limitations.
An Arizona judge on
Saturday rejected Republican gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake’s lawsuit attempting to
overturn her defeat, concluding that there
wasn’t clear or convincing evidence of
misconduct, and affirming the victory of
Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs. Lake, who
lost to Hobbs by about 17,000 votes in
November, sued in an effort to overturn the
election. Maricopa County Superior Court
Judge Peter Thompson allowed a two-day trial
on some of Lake’s claims, which concluded
late Thursday afternoon. The court ruling
marks a major defeat for Lake, who built her
candidacy on her support for former
President
Donald Trump’s lies about
widespread election fraud in the 2020
presidential election. She has since falsely
claimed to have won last month’s election.
Lake weighed in,
saying, “if they think they
can continue to steal and rig elections,
they are messing with the wrong people.” Of
course, the election was not rigged and Kari
Lake simply lost fair and square to Katie
Hobbs, who will be the next Governor of
Arizona.
Kari Lake, the losing
Republican candidate for governor of
Arizona, filed a lawsuit Friday contesting
the results of an election that was
certified by the state this week. Ms. Lake’s
lawsuit came after she had spent weeks
making a series of public statements and
social media posts aimed at sowing doubt in
the outcome of a contest she lost by more
than 17,000 votes to her Democratic
opponent, Katie Hobbs. That loss was
certified in documents signed on Monday by
Ms. Hobbs, who currently serves as secretary
of state. A former news anchor, Ms. Lake
centered her candidacy on false
conspiratorial claims that the 2020
presidential election had been stolen from
Donald J. Trump, who had endorsed her. For
the past month, Ms. Lake, her campaign and
other allies have been soliciting Election
Day accounts from voters on social media and
at rallies.
The increasingly
delusional Arizona Republican Party wants
Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs to be investigated
for 'suppressing free speech.' But its
'bombshell' doesn't even rate as a small
fizzle.
Arizona loser Kari
Lake has never made a secret of the fact
that she would not accept defeat. But the
lengths to which the failed gubernatorial
candidate is going in order to somehow
insert herself into an elected office that
the majority of her would-be constituents
voted against seeing her occupy is getting hella creepy. In her latest desperate
attempt to remain relevant, the former TV
personality has invoked God, of all people.
Though exactly what The Almighty has to do
with Lake’s failed election is anyone’s
guess.
The secretary of
state will turn Arizona's governor seat blue
after triumphing over Lake, a 2020 election
denier who's already casting doubt on the
validity of the 2022 midterms
According to a report
from the Daily Beast's William Bredderman,
Arizona Republican Kari Lake has been
receiving free -- and likely illegal --
campaign assistance from a tech company that
once paid her for "consulting." At issue is
an app developed by Superfeed Technologies
for Lake "which provides regular updates
from Lake’s social media feed, notifies
users of campaign events, and connects them
with donation and volunteer sign-up
portals."
CNN's Anderson Cooper
and Daniel Dale discuss Arizona Republican
gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake's recent
comments denying that she made light of the
attack of Paul Pelosi. Lake is blaming
"creative editing" from the "fake news
media," which is false.
"If Lake wins, her
administration will oversee the 2024
elections in a key state that could help
determine who wins the presidency. She could
work with the likes of
Mark Finchem, the
far-right Oath Keeper who is running to
become the state’s top election official.
Already, she has said she will only accept
the 2022 election results if “fair, honest
and transparent” by her standards, declining
to say whether she would accept defeat."
During the campaign
event, Lake referenced a widespread
conservative talking point about a
nonexistent U.S. Department of Justice
policy: I don’t believe parents are
terrorists at all. And I’ll tell you what.
If I were governor right now, and Joe Biden
even thought he was gonna send his FBI or
DOJ in to start coming after our parents,
they would be met at the airport with the
state police and arrested for going after
our rights. We finally, as parents, have to
rise up and say, “No, we’re gonna take this
anymore and they call us terrorists. That’s
unbelievable. We’re in an upside-down world
and we need to right it.”
"Arizona gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake called for repealing the
Affordable Care Act at a campaign event on
Monday, bringing up an issue all but
forgotten by her Republican Party."
The political action
committees for Southwest Gas and Pinnacle
West, Arizona Public Service’s parent
company, have maxed out their contribution
limits to Kari Lake, Arizona’s Republican
gubernatorial candidate, according to
third-quarter campaign finance reports that
the companies filed on October 15. Both
utilities have also given to the Republican
Governors Association, a political committee
which is supporting Lake. Southwest Gas’s
Arizona PAC contributed $5,300 to Kari
Lake’s campaign, the maximum contribution
for a PAC giving to a statewide candidate.
Pinnacle West’s PAC contributed $10,600 to
Lake, the maximum contribution in Arizona
for PACs with “mega-PAC” status. According
to Arizona campaign finance reporting, a PAC
can qualify for mega-PAC status through the
Secretary of State if it can prove receipt
of at least $10 from at least 500
individuals for the four years prior to
applying.
“Nancy Pelosi — well,
she’s got protection when she’s in D.C.
Apparently her house doesn’t have a lot of
protection,” Lake said, prompting laughs and
applause from the crowd and the event
moderator beside her."
It’s an ordinary and
straightforward negative ad. A local
businessman in Phoenix named Justin
Erickson, who says he’s a husband and father
of five children, earnestly complains that
his family and his employees are
“overwhelmed” by rising costs, and, as
ominous music plays in the background, he
declares defiantly that he can’t vote for
Katie Hobbs, the Democratic gubernatorial
candidate in Arizona, because she’s “too
liberal to be governor.” The spot was paid
for by the Yuma County Republican Central
Committee and authorized by Kari Lake, the
Trump-endorsed election denialist who is the
GOP candidate for governor. It covers the
Republican basics: A seemingly conscientious
and decent owner of a small business—and his
family—is dealing with economic hardship and
feels endangered by those liberal Democrats.
But the ad leaves out important information:
Erickson is not merely a local business
owner concerned with inflation; he is a
homophobic and Islamophobic pastor.
Lake has frequently
campaigned on the false claims that the 2020
presidential race was fraudulent -- at times
wielding a sledgehammer, claiming it's for
suspect electronic voting machines. She
raised the subject of the 2020 race in her
interview with Karl, wrongly alleging that
"2,000 mail-in ballots were accepted by
Maricopa County after Election Day in 2020,
after Election Day." Maricopa County
election officials told ABC News that no
ballots were accepted after the deadline on
Election Day in 2020. Some ballots that were
scanned the next morning -- giving them a
post-election timestamp -- were turned in to
the office on Election Day, the officials
said. In her interview, Lake offered other
unsubstantiated and disproven claims about
Arizona's 2020 race. At one point Lake said
she wanted to discuss other topics, but Karl
noted she was the one who raised the
previous election.
Ms Lake, the
Republican governor hopeful for Arizona,
said at a campaign event on Wednesday that
Martin Luther King Jr would have been a
so-called “America First Republican”, or a
Maga acolyte, were he alive today. After Ms
Lake's bizarre comments drew people's ire on
social media, Martin Luther King Jr's
daughter tore into her for being dismissive
of her father's "seminal work and beliefs",
such as ending voter suppression and
treating people, including immigrants, with
dignity.
The ad opens showing
Lake and says she will “stand with Arizona’s
border sheriffs,” a plea to anti-immigration
voters. It immediately cuts to footage of
marching troops. Those troops are Russian
soldiers, not Arizona National Guardsmen.
Recently, Lake
pounced on what she thought was a fat
'gotcha' moment against her opponent,
Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
From the Arizona Republic: In a three-minute
social media video, set to dramatic music
and featuring patriotic visuals, Lake claims
that if Hobbs is elected governor “your
kindergartner wouldn’t learn the Pledge of
Allegiance, but your precious 5-year-old
would be taught about sex.” But her
suggestion is built on misrepresentations of
Hobbs’ votes and the content of various
Arizona education bills… Lake: “As a
legislator, Hobbs actually voted to block
the Pledge of Allegiance, our National
Anthem, our Constitution, the Declaration of
Independence and even the Mayflower Compact
from being taught to the next generation of
Americans right here in Arizona.” The bill,
which was approved by lawmakers and signed
into law, did not affect the portion of the
law that permits school staff to read or
post the Pledge of Allegiance, the National
Anthem, or the other documents Lake
identified, experts say. “It’s an incorrect
claim. It’s a charge that’s untrue,” said
Paul Bender, a law professor at Arizona
State University. “She voted simply not to
add to those things, ‘In God we trust’ and
‘God enriches’.” I wonder which bright
staffer dropped the Mayflower Compact in
there? In Arizona? I remain unsure whether
Lake believes the Mayflower Compact is a new
model of Subaru. In a tweet on Wednesday
appearing to double down on her previous
accusations, Lake added another claim: that
Hobbs opposed displaying American flags. As
evidence, she cited Senate Bill 1289, Senate
Bill 1020, and Senate Bill 1152. An AP
review of these bills found no instance in
which Hobbs voted against displaying the
flag in schools. It shouldn’t be this easy
to pull a candidate apart, and it should
matter more that it is. Lake in a governor’s
chair is like putting a duck at the controls
of a 747.
Lake hurled
accusations at Hobbs in a 3-minute video
posted on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon. “In
Hobbs’ Arizona, your kindergartner wouldn’t
learn the Pledge of Allegiance,” said Lake.
“As a legislator, Hobbs actually voted to
block the Pledge of Allegiance, our national
anthem, our Constitution, the Declaration of
Independence and even the Mayflower Compact
from being taught to the next generation of
Americans right here in Arizona.” To back up
Lake’s shocking allegations, the video
showed a bill that Hobbs voted against four
years ago. However, the bombshell Lake
promised was proved to be incorrect. “Voting
against this bill would not be voting
against the national anthem,” said Wes Gullett, former chief of staff to previous
Arizona Republican governor Fife Symington.
Gullett points out the bill Lake refers to
only covered adding the state motto, “Ditat
Deus,” which means “God Enriches,” and the
national motto of “In God We Trust.” It
would not have purged anything from the
approved list of materials that could be
read and posted in Arizona classrooms.
Given the fact that
Kari Lake, the
Republican candidate
for governor of
Arizona, worships at
the altar of Donald
Trump, I suppose we
should not be
surprised when she
compares herself and
other Trump
disciples to Jesus,
as happened
recently.
It was during a
political event in a
religious setting.
Lake is not speaking
at a podium, but at
a pulpit, playing
every bit the
Christian
nationalist, which
these days is heavy
on nationalism and
light – if not
totally lacking – in
Christianity.
While complaining
about President Joe
Biden’s speech
condemning radical
MAGA cultists, Lake
said, “You can call
us whatever you
want, Joe. You can
call us extremists.
You can call us
domestic terrorists.
You know who else
was called a lot of
names his whole
life? Jesus.”
Strange how
politicians like
Lake invoke the name
of Christ and then
go on to say or do
un-Christian things.
That's not what
Jesus said about
migrants
As Lake did from
behind that same
pulpit, smugly
echoing her Dear
Leader’s disdainful
remarks about
migrants, saying,
“The media might
have a field day
with this one, but
I’m just going to
repeat something
President Trump said
a long time ago and
it got him into a
lot of trouble. They
are bringing drugs.
They are bringing
crime. And they are
rapists and that’s
who’s coming across
our border. That’s a
fact."...
Kari Lake - Fire the
Fed
Kari Lake wants
to fire the federal
government. A vote
for her could cost
Arizona everything.
Trump-backed GOP
candidate for
governor of Arizona,
Kari Lake, endorsed Jarrin Jackson for
Oklahoma state
Senate on Thursday.
The endorsement
raised eyebrows
across the media as
recent reports have
uncovered Jackson’s
long history of
anti-Semitic and
homophobic
statements. The
Oklahoman reported
in July that Jackson
“said being gay is
‘disgusting,’ called
the LGBTQ lifestyle
the ‘gateway to
pedophilia’ and said
he is not ‘beholden
to Jews’ in posts
and videos on
right-wing social
media platforms.”
The report noted
that Jackson posted
on Telegram in
January, “All Jews
will go to hell if
they don’t believe
the gospel of Jesus
Christ … just like
everybody else.” He
added, “I love Jews
because Christ told
me to, not because
they deserve it.”
"Far-right candidate
Kari Lake
thought she had the
upper hand when her
campaign tried to
troll Dee Snider,
but the Twisted
Sister front man
wasn’t going to take
it."
Someone or a group
of some ones are
paying Arizona state
Rep.
Jake Hoffman
more than $2 million
to help make Kari
Lake the Republican
nominee for
governor. But it is
not clear who is
doing so. And
campaign finance
records filed last
week only deepen the
mystery. Hoffman,
through his company
1Ten, has produced
$1 million worth of
political propaganda
promoting ,
according to
campaign finance
records. His company
has also produced
$1.1 million worth
of materials
advocating the
defeat of her main
rival. Both types of
ads were ordered by
a political action
committee, Put
Arizona First, which
claims as its only
donor a medical
company whose owner
denies making the
contribution.
Elected
officials
and
candidates
for
office
in 2022
continue
to
challenge
and
question
the
results
of the
2020
presidential
election
in
Arizona.
The
results
have
been
examined
and
re-examined,
challenged
in court
and in a
monthslong
ballot
review.
No
evidence
has been
found of
widespread
fraud or
error in
the
results.
Yet
candidates
deny the
outcome.
Others
don't
quite go
as far.
But they
raise
questions
about
potential
irregularities
they say
could
have
influenced
the vote
and
should
be
examined.
The
Arizona
Republic
is
listing
candidates
by
category
by the
race
that
they are
entered
in. This
list is
not
complete
and will
be
updated
throughout
the 2022
election
season.
Election
deniers
These
candidates
in
Arizona
races
deny
that Joe
Biden
won the
2020
presidential
election,
either
in
Arizona
or
nationwide.
Question 2: Adding “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” or “gender expression” to the protected classes of race, religion, age, sex, and ancestry in nondiscrimination law.
Candidates'
Position:
Oppose.
Question 4: Allowing biological males that identify as transgender to play on female sports’ teams.
Candidates'
Position: Oppose
Question 8: Allowing parents to seek professional counseling for their minor child with same-sex attraction or gender identity issues.*
Candidates'
Position: Support
Question 9:
Protecting individuals and
businesses from being required
to provide services or use their
artistic expression in a manner
that violates their moral or
religious beliefs.**
Candidates' Position:
Support.
*
This is in reference to the
dangerous and disproven
"Reparative Therapy".
One of the Phoenix
area's best-known
drag queens is
calling his former
friend — Republican
candidate for
governor Kari Lake —
a hypocrite after
Lake weighed in on
drag performances,
the latest front
in the conservative
culture war.
Richard Stevens, who
has performed for 25
years as Barbra
Seville, said he was
disappointed and
decided to speak out
after Lake tweeted
Friday that "they
kicked God out of
schools and welcomed
the Drag Queens.
They took down our
Flag and replaced it
with a rainbow."
Stevens shared
pictures and texts
from Lake in several
social media posts
and said Lake had
attended countless
shows and private
events over the
decades of their
friendship. He said
he had performed as
Marilyn Monroe in
front of Lake's
daughter when she
was 9 or 10 years
old.
"She's picked a side
in the culture war,
but her actions in
the past don't
support it," Stevens
said in an
interview. "Of
course my feelings
are hurt, but it
just proves that she
is a hypocrite. ...
She's thrown away my
friendship with her
to get votes from
people that would
rather hate gays or
hate drag queens."
Stevens is one more
critic to say Lake
is new to such
conservative
beliefs, accusations
that have dogged
Lake's year-old
campaign and offered
opportunity for her
opponents to attack.
Lake is running a
Donald
Trump-inspired
campaign to replace
Republican Gov. Doug
Ducey and has
used false claims
the 2020 election
was stolen as a
signature talking
point.
Republican candidate
for governor Kari Lake at a recent campaign
event seemed to make her case for holding
the state’s highest elected office by
pushing her bona fides as both a witch
doctor and a witch hunter. And proving in
the process that she’s as incompetent at
those two occupations as she would be as
governor.
Trump-endorsed Kari
Lake is still running in the GOP primary for
Arizona governor, and she’s still coup-coup
for the Big Lie. She doesn’t even consider
Joe Biden the real president of the real
United States. That’s why she calls
President Biden and Vice President Kamala
Harris by their first names, like they’re
the help. She tweeted the other day, “Joe
and Kamala are driving the country into the
ground. I am running for governor to keep
them from taking Arizona with them.”
She’s not just rude, though. She’s also
openly seditionist. She declared that as
governor, she’d close her eyes and ignore
everything Fake President Biden said. [...]
Lake has already said she wouldn’t have
certified Biden’s victory in Arizona.
Outgoing GOP Governor
Doug Ducey did because
he’s apparently a RINO who obeys the law.
Lake still thinks Arizona was stolen from
Trump, but don’t waste your time waiting for
evidence to support those wild accusations.
Lake doesn’t need proof when she has
instinct.
Kari Lake, a
gubernatorial candidate for Arizona backed
by former President
Donald Trump, said on
Monday that she would fine airlines $1,000
for each time they enforce mask mandates on
passengers while in Arizona airspace.
Apr. 12, 2022
Photo: Politifact
Kari Lake, a TV
journalist turned
Republican candidate
for Arizona
governor, is running
with Donald Trump’s
endorsement on a
platform of
rehashing falsehoods
about the 2020
presidential
election. Lake
disputes that
President Joe Biden
received 81 million
votes even though
the results were
certified and
accepted by
Congress. Lake has
spoken favorably of
"decertification" of
the vote in Arizona,
a process that does
not exist. She
predicted a review
of ballots in
Maricopa County
would show
Trump as
"the real winner of
Arizona," but that
review, orchestrated
by state Senate
Republicans,
confirmed the
official results
that Biden won.
Falsehoods about the
2020 presidential
election culminated
in the Jan. 6, 2021,
violent attack on
the U.S. Capitol.
Lake downplayed the
cases of the
defendants in an
interview with 60
Minutes Australia.
Lake was asked if
she thinks the
defendants should be
pardoned, an idea
floated by Trump.
Lake said she would
have no say in that
as a candidate for
governor, then
added, "What I don’t
like is that people
are being held in
prison without being
charged. That’s
un-American." "
"We contacted Lake’s
campaign to ask for
her evidence and did
not get a response.
So has the
government
imprisoned people
associated with Jan.
6 without showing
any evidence of
alleged crimes?No.
Court records show
charges filed
against hundreds of
people who assaulted
or resisted police
and disrupted
Congress in an
effort to overturn
the election results
in favor of Donald
Trump.
When CBS 5/3TV's
Dennis Welch in June asked Kari Lake about
her donations to then-presidential
candidates John Kerry in 2004 and Barack
Obama in 2008, her response was to trash the
reporter. [. . .] When 12News’ Brahm Resnik
asked Lake, during her August mask protest
at ASU, what should be done about a surging
pandemic, her response was to trash the
reporter. [. . .] Are you catching on,
Arizona? Let’s just briefly revisit Lake’s
disaster of a Down Under interview, which on
Sunday evening.
Kari Lake, the
longtime Phoenix-area news anchor turned
Trump-backed candidate for Arizona governor,
has been campaigning with a man who pleaded guilting to trying to hire a hitman to kill
an FBI informant. Lake, who is no stranger
to controversy, has previously been
documented campaigning with QAnon followers
and Nazi sympathizers. Salon documented
Lake’s latest campaign scandal, noting that
her campaign even paid the convicted felon,
Kenneth Ulibarri, $2,000, according to
recent filings. Igor Derysh reported that
“Ulibarri, a repeat violent offender who
pleaded guilty after the DOJ accused him of
trying to hire a hitman to kill an FBI
informant and an unrelated state charge of
battery on a peace officer, spoke at Lake’s
“Stand for Freedom” rally in Scottsdale last
July.”
Kari Lake, a
Trump-endorsed candidate for Arizona
governor, has been an aggressive promoter of
lies about the 2020 election. Earlier this
month, she joined Trump's spokeswoman in
promoting another dishonest claim -- about
Wisconsin.
12 News swiftly
handed down a response. They had not, in
fact, censored Lake's ad — she had just been
confused about the time range in which the
ad could air. "Lake's media buying company,
Strategic Media Placement, Inc., placed one
commercial spot on 12 News for the week of
Feb. 21-27. The order indicates the singular
spot could air Monday or Tuesday evening
during the 10 p.m. news," wrote the station.
"The purchase was made with 12 News on
Friday, Feb. 18." Lake's candidacy for
governor of Arizona has been fraught with
controversy from the start. She has
endlessly promoted
Donald Trump's "Big Lie"
that the 2020 election was stolen, even
calling for the arrest of her most prominent
Democratic opponent, current Arizona
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. She has also
campaigned with a number of fringe figures,
including Ethan Schmidt-Crockett, an
outspoken Nazi sympathizer who terrorized a
wig shop for cancer patients over their
COVID masking policy, and
Ron Watkins, who
has been accused by some cyber experts of
being the mysterious "Q" behind the QAnon
conspiracy theory movement
"On Feb. 4, Lake
shared video on Twitter of comments she made
on right-wing journalist Tim Pool's "Timcast"
podcast on Dec. 3 and tweeted, "The Feds
have ABANDONED us. When I'm Governor, we'll
finish the wall ourselves in defiance of
them. " [...] "what's Joe Biden going to do?
Arrest a sitting governor?""
Kari
Lake, a former
TV anchor who's
running for
governor, began her
speech with the
theme of some of the
other speakers,
praising America
under Trump and
listing its problems
under Biden. As did
others, she called
Trump “president”
and slammed the 2020
election as “rotten
to the core.”
[...]
We are so blessed
to have
Donald Trump
with us here today.
We know the election
was stolen,” state
Sen. Wendy Rogers,
R-Flagstaff, said
when she took the
stage, echoing the
sentiments of other
speakers and crowd
members, who cheered
her in response.
“They attacked
Donald Trump because
he exposed them and
their evil deeds,”
said Finchem, who's
running for Arizona
secretary of state,
a position that
oversees state
elections.
[...]
On Dec. 14, 2020,
Kern and 10 other
Arizonans, including
state GOP Chair
Kelli Ward and Rep.
Jake Hoffman,
R-Queen Creek,
signed a document
that was sent to
Congress. All 11
people were listed
on the general
election ballot as
the would-be
electors for
Trump.
[...]
Borrelli pushed
back on the fact
that the belief in
widespread election
fraud that stole the
presidency from
Trump in 2020 was a
“conspiracy theory.”
He said there was
indeed a conspiracy,
but he claims "it’s
not a theory.” He
said the problem was
“obstructionists”
who oversee
elections at the
Arizona Secretary of
State’s Office and
in Maricopa County.
Borrelli said that
many of his peers in
the Arizona House
and Senate were
behind him and other
election deniers and
that they were going
to “tighten up the
loopholes that these
commie (expletive)
have exploited.” The
crowd cheered as
Borrelli claimed
that the
“shamestream media”
were hiding facts
like “ghost voters”
he said were found
to have voted in
Pima County in 2020.
Pima County election
officials deny there
were any widespread
problems with the
election.
[...]
Arizona Republican
U.S. Reps.
Debbie Lesko,
Andy Biggs and
Paul Gosar, the
latter two national
leaders in the
spread of falsehoods
over the 2020
election, also spoke
at the rally
Lake has never held
elected office before, but she’s quickly
risen in notoriety during this race. She’s
appeared with QAnon activists and Nazi
sympathizers. She has supported a secretary
of state candidate with ties to the QAnon
conspiracy theory movement. [...] Lake has
said that if she were elected governor she
would direct Arizona Attorney General
Mark
Brnovich to open a wide-ranging criminal
investigation into the 2020 election where
he would “seize all election material, all
election equipment, and he should start
questioning people immediately.” She’s
described Trump as “pretty close to perfect”
[...] She says she’s a “MAGA conservative.”
Lake checks all the boxes of an
anti-vaccination alarmist. She’s bragged
about how she sought ways around vaccination
requirements when looking for a restaurant
to dine at in New York. She’s bragged that
she has not gotten a Covid vaccine, “and I
don’t plan on getting it.” She’s also
propagated the same arguments casting doubt
on the safety and efficacy of vaccines—a
position that actually puts her to Trump’s
right. “I’m not believing a lot of the
science, so-called science coming out of
some of our so-called experts,” Lake said in
mid-January.
Oh, she has put out a
few ideas for what we can expect if she’s
governor, but they are more campaign slogans
than actual policy plans. She would “finish
the wall,” though she hasn’t explained how
she would pay for it (maybe she could bill
Mexico?). She would arrest “OSHA goons” as
soon as they set foot in Arizona, though she
hasn’t cited by what authority could place
them in handcuffs. Finally, a few weeks ago,
Lake offered an actual policy proposal. She
would install cameras in every public school
classroom so that parents would be able to
root out “woke” educators and their secret
plan to indoctrinate our children in leftie
ideas.
Candidates generally
are either committed to evidence, or they
aren’t,” said Will Humble, director of the
Arizona Public Health Association, when
asked about Lake’s most recent comments.
“Kari Lake appears to be in camp two.
At a campaign event
in late August, Lake posed for a photo and
video with far-right personalities Ethan
Schmidt-Crockett, the founder of the AntiMaskersClub, who harassed a store
specializing in wigs for cancer patients
this summer because it required customers to
wear masks, and Greyson Arnold, a Nazi
sympathizer who has a history of making
White nationalist, racist, antisemitic and
pro-Nazi statements, including once calling
Adolf Hitler "a complicated historical
figure which many people misunderstand."
An anti-mask mandate
rally Friday that will feature gubernatorial
candidate Kari Lake, staunchly anti-vax Sen.
Kelly Townsend, and various other high
profile, far-right politicians has settled
on an interesting venue: an elementary
school campus in Phoenix.
Lake has baselessly
advocated the imprisonment of state
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is now
running for governor, over unspecified
election crimes; there is simply no sign
Hobbs broke the law. Lake has also pushed
for the imprisonment of unspecified
journalists she claims have told lies about
the election and other subjects.
"According to Vice,
Watkins is
a longtime QAnon activist who started a website
about aliens. He was also a featured speaker at Mike Lindell's Cyber Symposium. Many believe that Watkins
is the man behind the QAnon movement."
Kari Lake, a former
news anchor who is now the
Trump-endorsed
candidate for Arizona governor in 2022, told
One America News on Friday that she “would
not have certified” the votes had she been
governor at the time. She cited debunked
lies about “serious irregularities” that
were spread by the likes of Rudy Giuliani
Kari Lake, the former
Fox 10 Phoenix news anchor running as a
Republican for governor of Arizona, is
taking advantage of Twitter's inconsistency
with a string of irresponsible tweets that
have no business on Twitter or anywhere
else. It's the best of both worlds
for her. She can tweet Trump-like nonsense
to appease her followers.
It's sad that a
candidate for Arizona governor chooses the
morning after an Arizona gymnast wins
Olympic gold to try to score cheap points
with Republican voters by dissing Olympic
athletes.
Lake made her religious beliefs a theme in
both the resignation video as well as on her
new website, which outlines the duties of
Christians in their beliefs [...] Lake got
her name in the news more than a year ago
after she shared on Twitter a video where
two California doctors promoted lifting that
state’s shelter-in-place order, saying that
COVID-19 is similar to the flu and that
isolation actually may weaken the immune
system [...] She also sent out a Twitter
post in January saying the “First Amendment
is under attack’’ after Twitter and Facebook
first suspended
Donald Trump’s accounts
after the platforms concluded that his
misinformation and lies inspired the Jan. 6
attack on the Capitol.
Kari Lake went viral in 2019 for bashing Phoenix New Times to a
colleague while defending her affiliation with the far-right
Twitter clone Parler. Now, she's ventured even deeper into the
shady ecosystem of far-right social media, joining a social
media network known as Gab that's favored by neo-Nazis and QAnon
cultists.
Lake, a news anchor for Phoenix TV station Fox 10, took to
Twitter to spotlight a recent viral video in which two
California doctors promote lifting the shelter-in-place order in
the state — doctors whose claims have been roundly criticized by
health care professionals [...] Citing a violation of its terms
of service, YouTube removed video
The Phoenix television anchor who once peddled a conspiracy
theory about #RedForEd has done it again, retweeting an
unverified claim of election fraud on Sunday from an anonymous
account to her 9,000 followers
