For Immediate Release
Thurs, Nov. 10th, 2022
Contact: Josselyn Berry, Jberry@azdem.org

As Ballots Are Still Being Counted, Republicans Turn to Violent Rhetoric and Conspiracy Theories

Kari Lake Claims Election Officials Intentionally Delaying Election Results to Stop Her From Winning

PHOENIX– Ballots are still being counted across Arizona and numerous races are still too close to be called, but that isn’t stopping Republicans from invoking violent rhetoric like saying there will be a “bloodbath” and tossing around all manner of conspiracy theories. The Kari Lake war room account retweeted a video of Charlie Kirk saying, “every ballot from this point forward will be a bloodbath for the Katie Hobbs campaign” while Donald Trump is claiming there is cheating going on in Arizona. Lake is now making the outrageous claim that election officials are purposely delaying results as the governor’s race remains too close to call. “They don’t want to put out the truth, which is that we won,” Lake said. 
 

“Kari Lake is willingly and flagrantly undermining American democracy as she once again demonstrates she has no respect for the will of the voters. Lucky for us, Lake does not decide who wins this election–Arizona voters do. Arizona elections are safe and secure and every vote will be counted regardless of how long it takes. Democracy can not be rushed or compromised. We must be patient, trust the process and not allow politicians like Kari Lake to cause chaos,”  said Josselyn Berry, spokesperson for the Arizona Democratic Party.

Throughout the 2022 election, Lake has been laying groundwork to reject the results, even saying that it was smart that Trump didn’t concede his loss and she would ‘absolutely’ do the same. During the primary, Lake claimed her race was manipulated, warning that “we’re already detecting some stealing going on.” Hours before the polls closed, she hadn’t changed her tune, saying “If we don’t win, there’s some cheating going on.” But after she was declared the winner, Lake dropped all talk of fraud and never produced any evidence to back up her baseless claims. Lake has also refused to commit to accepting the results of the 2022 election, telling CNN, “I’m going to win the election, and I will accept that result.”  And in an interview back in October,  Lake said, “I wish I could sit here and say I have complete faith in the system, I don’t have faith in the system.”