For Immediate Release
Friday, August 12th, 2022
Contact: Josselyn Berry, Jberry@azdem.org
Welcome to All About Kari, a weekly rundown in the run up to the general election on every radical and extreme thing Kari Lake says and does. It can be hard to keep track of tweets, ads and interviews, so we’ve done that for you. Enjoy!
Tweet of the Week
Antisemitic Oklahoma GOP Candidate Touts Endorsement from Kari Lake–Jarrin Jackson, a Republican running for a seat in the Oklahoma state Senate who has made numerous antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ comments, is touting he’s now endorsed by Kari Lake. Jackson has said things like “I ain’t owned by the Jews” and “The Jews, Illuminati, Covid shots kill. Rothschilds. Communists. Woke pastors. Social gospel. Christ will chuck a bunch of stuff in the fire.”
RGA Embraces Kari Lake’s Conspiracy-Fueled Campaign In Ad Featuring Woman Tied to Q-Anon and Stop the Steal–The RGA has fully entered Kari conspiracy land with its latest ad featuring a Q-Anon and Stop the Steal supporting fake advocate, as reported by the Arizona Mirror. In the ad, Traci Hansen calls herself an “advocate for human trafficking victims” but has “no ties to legitimate groups that combat human trafficking.” She did however participate in a “Q-Anon-adjacent march on the Arizona Capitol” and fundraised for an organization that has “embraced Q-Anon.”
Advocate for Domestic Violence Survivors and Rape Crisis Advocate Calls on RGA to Pull Offensive, Misleading Ad From Airwaves–Kat Stratford, a single parent and a survivor of sexual and domestic violence saw the RGA ad and was appalled they would promote a Q-Anon disciple with “no ties to legitimate groups that combat human trafficking.” In 2014, Stratford was certified as a Rape Crisis Advocate by the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault, and has advocated for policies and reforms to help survivors in the aftermath of significant trauma. “I was simply floored that the RGA chose to use a fake advocate to attack Katie Hobbs. As a survivor and advocate myself, I can tell you how dangerous it is that people like Traci Hansen push conspiracy theories that endanger the people they claim to protect and undermine the very important work real advocates are doing to stop human trafficking,” Stratford said. “The damage done by Traci and her allies causes delays in emergency services to real victims of human trafficking crimes, and they promote violence against elected officials named in their misinformation campaigns. I’m calling on the RGA to remove this false, misleading, and dangerous ad promoting Q-Anon conspiracy theories.”
Lake Continues to Hide from Local Press and Arizonans in Favor of MAGA-Friendly Outlets–With every appearance on far right YouTube channels and fringe podcasts, Kari Lake continues to prove she has no interest in talking to everyday Arizonans or addressing the critical issues facing our state. Instead, Lake continues to insult and ignore legitimate media and Arizona in favor of only appearing on friendly MAGA media like OANN and Sebastian Gorka’s show. Lake has also repeatedly referred to the Arizona Republic as the “Repugnant” and insulted local reporters like Brahm Resnick.
As Arizona Runs Out of Water, Kari Lake Puts Election Conspiracies First–This week the federal government announced further mandatory water cuts from the Colorado River to Arizona and other southwestern states. In this next wave of drought cutbacks, the Tier 2 shortage means Arizona will have to further reduce our Colorado River use beginning in January. Instead of getting serious and focusing on this crisis, Kari Lake has been spending her time rallying with MAGA extremists, pushing election conspiracy theories, attacking law enforcement, and talking about her “secession dream.” Lake has also repeatedly said that election conspiracies are more important to her than addressing our water crisis. Kari Lake told Sebastian Gorka, “We have a lot of other issues here in Arizona. But if we don’t get our election sorted out and make sure they’re secure and safe….we can’t get into tax policy, water policy unless we have a secure election.”