Tuesday, April 16th, 2024
ARIZONA -– At her “Take Back Our Country Rally” on Sunday, Kari Lake urged supporters to “strap on a Glock” and pushed election conspiracy theories – her “signature talking point” – according to a new report from NBC News. Her campaign refused to answer when asked “whether she was implying there might be political violence in the next six months.”
Lake is “struggling to walk away from the controversial positions that have turned off independents” like urging “military and law enforcement veterans to be ‘ready’” for the 2024 election. Republicans have warned that Lake “faces an uphill climb” and “looks increasingly like she isn’t a candidate that can win.”
NBC News: Kari Lake suggests supporters ‘strap on a Glock’ to be ready for 2024
Lake told people that “the next six months is going to be intense” and urged attendees to be “ready for action,” calling out to military and law enforcement veterans in the crowd.
By: Alex Tabet
April 16th, 2024
Key Points:
- Arizona GOP Senate hopeful Kari Lake told supporters they can “strap on a Glock” to be prepared for the intensity of the 2024 campaign and urged military and law enforcement veterans to be “ready,” as her race heats up in a key battleground state…
- “He’s willing to sacrifice everything I am. That’s why they’re coming after us with lawfare, they’re going to come after us with everything. That’s why the next six months is going to be intense. And we need to strap on our — let’s see. What do we want to strap on?” Lake asked as some in the crowd chuckled. “We’re going to strap on our, our seat belt. We’re going to put on our helmet or your Kari Lake ball cap. We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case.”
- “We’re not going to be the victims of crime,” Lake continued. “We’re not going to have our Second Amendment taken away. We’re certainly not going to have our First Amendment taken away by these tyrants.”
- Earlier in the roughly 30-minute remarks, Lake gave another warning about the period between now and Election Day.
- “The next six months are going to be difficult. If you are not ready for action, and I have a feeling with as many veterans and former law enforcement, active law enforcement” — Lake paused to ask for a show of hands — “… you guys are ready for it,” Lake said to her supporters. “It’s going to be a crazy run, the next six months. This is the moment we have to save our country.”
- Lake’s campaign declined to comment when asked to clarify the point of her remarks and whether she was implying there might be political violence in the next six months…
- “They’re gonna do everything they can to disrupt the election, whether it’s another pandemic, whether it’s going to be inciting the civil war,” said Geenee Roe, 63, when asked about Lake’s speech afterward. The event included a raffle of an AR-15-style rifle…
- “If Mohave County shows up 100% or close to it, they can’t cheat their way out of this in Maricopa County, no matter what they do,” Lake said, leaning on a signature talking point.
- Lake has continually rejected the 2020 election results, which saw President Joe Biden narrowly defeat Trump in Arizona, and the 2022 election results, which saw her bid for governor fail by a slightly wider margin. Court cases and other reviews of the results have not found evidence of fraud or malfeasance affecting the election results. And in March, Lake decided not to contest her liability in a defamation suit brought by a Republican election official in Maricopa County…
- She continued questioning the integrity of Maricopa County’s election results on Sunday.
- “You all know what goes on in Maricopa County. I mean, you know that you know, the garbage that they’re pushing down there,” Lake said of Arizona’s most populous county, where Richer and the Republican-controlled board of supervisors run local elections…