For Immediate Release
Monday, Oct. 24th, 2022
Contact: Josselyn Berry, Jberry@azdem.org
Welcome to All About Kari, a weekly rundown in the runup 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
Kari Lake Runs from Reporters After Interview Where She Ran From Basic Questions–Kari Lake ran from reporters after her CCEC interview where she also ran from basic questions. Reporting on the interview, which will air later today, describes a Lake who “wouldn’t say” much of anything, as she stumbled and dodged answering tough questions about her out-of-touch ideas like criminalizing abortion and election conspiracy theories. 12 News reporter Brahm Resnick tweeted out a video, showing a defensive and combative Lake running from the press. Resnick called out Lake’s hypocrisy saying, “Today, it was Lake’s turn to ditch reporters after taping her 1/1 interview for AZTV.”
Lake Also Stumbles During Good Morning America–After spending years making false claims that our elections were stolen, rigged and unfair, Kari Lake suddenly has no idea what she would do to secure our elections when questioned during a Good morning America interview. On Friday, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl asked Lake what she would change when it comes to Arizona election laws, to which Lake replied, “I don’t know exactly how we’ll do it.” In that same interview, Lake wouldn’t explicitly commit to accepting the outcome of her upcoming election if she loses to her opponent Katie Hobbs. The interview prompted Gilbert Zermeño, an investigative producer with CBS5 News, to comment, “‘I don’t know how exactly we’ll do it’ is not a good answer to any question at this point in the election.”
After Good Morning America Fumble, Lake Cancels on Meet The Press— Given her disastrous Good Morning America interview, it’s no surprise Lake abruptly “decided not to appear” on Chuck Todd’s Meet The Press for an interview.
The ‘Most Important Person’ on Kari Lake’s Campaign Mocked Native Americans in Vile, Racist Tweet–Kari Lake’s apparent campaign manager made a deeply racist comparison of all Native Americans to savages who engage in human sacrifice in a vile tweet mocking Indigenous People’s Day. “Happy Indigenous People’s Day!” Colton Duncan posted on Twitter, along with a bloody image of human sacrifice. Lake’s campaign has refused to comment on the tweet and Duncan appears to be still working on the campaign. Arizona has more tribal lands than any other state, and is home to 22 federally recognized tribal nations. Even worse, earlier this year Lake refused to acknowledge her troubling comments that showed her ignorance of indigenous history, which were panned by Indigenous advocates.
Anderson Cooper Rips Into Kari Lake’s Endless Election Lies and Attacks on Journalists–Kari Lake’s strategy of attacking the press to distract from her extreme stances on every issue made it to Anderson Cooper 360 this week, where Anderson Cooper and a Washington Post reporter ripped into Lake’s tactics of pushing election lies. Throughout her entire campaign Lake has insulted and largely ignored legitimate media, instead choosing to overwhelmingly appear on friendly MAGA outlets like OANN and Sebastian Gorka’s show. Even when she has press events, she often refuses to answer questions from real reporters, repeatedly referring to the Arizona Republic as the “Repugnant” and insulting local reporters like Brahm Resnick.
Lake Adds Tulsi “Russian Asset” Gabbard To List of Supporters– For her entire campaign Kari Lake has ignored building support here at home in Arizona and instead is tying herself to unpopular, right-wing extremists like Trump, Masters, Ted Cruz and now Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard, who’s been called a “Russian asset” and most recently compared President Biden to Adolf Hitler, was in Arizona last week to campaign alongside Lake. Lake has been alienating the moderate and independent voters needed to win this race. Unlike some other GOP candidates who’ve tried wooing voters in the center, Lake has placed herself in the furthest right corner for her entire campaign. In contrast, Katie Hobbs has been deliberately building a wide, bipartisan coalition of Arizonans who support her for governor.
The Daily Beast: MLK’s Daughter to Kari Lake: No, My Dad Wouldn’t Be a MAGA Republican
Kari Lake, a Republican who’s regularly spewed election-denying nonsense in her bid to be Arizona’s next governor, was eviscerated Wednesday after she claimed Martin Luther King Jr. would be a MAGA Republican if he was alive today.
A day after making the bizarre comment, Bernice King shot back that Lake was being dismissive of her father’s “seminal work and beliefs,” such as ending voter suppression and treating all people—including immigrants—with dignity.
Foothills News: Veteran: Lake unqualified to command troops
Kari Lake, a woman who spent her life reading other people’s words through a teleprompter, now wants to be the commander in chief of the Arizona National Guard. That should make every guard, soldier and airman nervous. Why? Just like she did as a news anchor, she’ll govern by regurgitating other people’s conspiracy theories. She’ll be a mouthpiece for people who see the border as prime real estate for political stunts, turning our soldiers into political pawns.
Lake, who is unlikely to understand much, but especially not guardsmen, will not treat my fellow soldiers and airmen like human beings.
Bear in mind, she could care less about the guard. Her only constituent lives in Florida. Her only thought is for him. If she gets elected, expect to see guardsmen involuntarily activated as a stunt.
Washington Post: Opinion | Black voters just love Kari Lake, says Kari Lake
[There] were a few problems with the “Black Voices” concept: The majority of attendees were White — as were many of the people putting questions in the big goldfish bowl for Lake to answer and even some of those holding “Black Voices for Kari” posters distributed by the campaign. To overcome this awkwardness, campaign aides recruited actual Black people in the audience to stand behind Lake at a subsequent news conference — in which Lake declared her Democratic opponent racist.
But the event was more likely aimed at reassuring some moderate White voters that Lake, and the GOP generally, haven’t gone full white nationalist. Republicans have fueled that perception with crime ads featuring Black faces in mug shots and claims that Black people commit most crime. Lake herself has flirted with “great replacement” conspiracy thoughts (she again referred to a migrant “invasion” at the event) and thinkers.
Whatever its purpose, the majority-White “Black Voices” event was a magnificent display of phoniness. At this, the former newscaster excels. Lake is an ideal candidate for the post-truth age: She doesn’t shade the truth; she reimagines reality in bold Technicolor.
Vanity Fair: Kari Lake, GOP Candidate for Arizona Governor, Won’t Commit to Accepting November’s Election Tally
Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake refused to commit to accepting the 2022 election results on Sunday.
When CNN host Dana Bash asked on Sunday’s State of the Union if Lake would accept the November election results, Kari Lake said, “I’m going to win the election, and I’m going to accept that result.” When Bash pressed again, asking if she would accept the results if she lost, Lake repeated: “I’m going to win the election, and I’m going to accept that result.”
Earlier this month, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) called Lake a threat to democracy: “If you care about our democracy and you care about the survival of our republic, then … we cannot give people power who have told us that they will not honor elections.”
Jezebel: Arizona Governor Candidate Kari Lake: ‘There’s No Such Thing as Toxic Masculinity
Kari Lake, a former local news anchor and current Republican nominee for governor in Arizona, insisted that “there’s no such thing as toxic masculinity” and that the term is a “bunch of BS” at an event called Black Voices for Kari Lake on Monday, The New Republic reported.
Of course, despite these prime examples of some of the most visible candidates in her own party embracing the standard-bearers for toxic masculinity, it’s not as if Lake is bothered by any of this. Lake, mind you, is the same woman who’s insisted throughout the campaign trail that “God did not create us [women] to be equal to men, He didn’t create us to do what the guys do.” Other comments in the same vein from Lake include: “We conservative women love our men, we don’t want to conquer them, we don’t want to be equal to them,” last June, and, “We aren’t equal to men. Women are different than men,” last November. She re-stated all of this at a campaign event just last month.