“And I’m thinking right now that this is the time to replace that disgusting dirty McCain swamp with maybe, I don’t know, a Lake”

Thursday, August 8th, 2024

ARIZONA -– Kari Lake’s long record of denigrating the late Senator John McCain continues to haunt her, as “40% of Republican voters [bailed] on” Lake in her “disappointing” primary race results last week.

Lake’s disparaging remarks about John McCain have made “GOP senators worry that Lake is not a strong candidate” and given Arizonans reasons to question “how Lake can win over those all-important moderate Republicans and independents she trashed.” 

Here are just a few of Kari Lake’s comments about Senator John McCain:

• “John McCain, who truly was a RINO, I mean honestly a RINO. Remember when he went out onto the floor of the Senate and did the thumbs down after for years and years promising he was going to repeal and replace Obamacare. And then he betrayed all of us.” [10/2/21]

• “It’s somebody they can’t control. We saw it here. The McCain mafia has been running the show for a generation and we saw it with Cindy McCain.” [7/20/2022]

• “So, you know you speak some truth about John McCain and everyone gets bent out of shape, but I’m sorry. I’m about the truth. And the truth is that the Republican Party is the Trump Republican Party, like it or not. And this McCain cabal is going to have to deal with that.” [5/14/2022]

• “And I’m thinking right now that this is the time to replace that disgusting dirty McCain swamp with maybe, I don’t know, a Lake. Is that okay? We need someone who’s going to represent we the people.” [6/4/2022]

• “John McCain may be dead, but he is reaching up from the grave trying to keep power in Arizona. And it was never about power that helped the people of Arizona, it was never about that. It was about maintaining his power, incredible power in the entire U.S., world power, and he had complete power over Arizona. Rarely did he do anything good for the people, and the people are aware of that.” [5/6/2022]

• “John McCain was not a perfect man, that’s why I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t think that he cared that much about the people of Arizona. He cared more about his power. That’s how I feel about the McCains. And every time that somebody says anything about them, they turn into victims. You know, when you’re in politics, you got to have thicker skin than that.” [5/15/2022]

• “Oh, well, whenever you speak out and talk about the reality, which is, we were run by John McCain and his machine for probably four decades. You say that and the McCain family loses their mind. They act like they can’t handle any criticism. It’s a fact. I’ve been attacked by the McCain family lately because I’ve been pointing out we are at a crossroads in Arizona. Are we going to go back to the old way of doing business, which is the McCain machine runs the show, the people of Arizona are not figured into this. They don’t matter. It’s just what the McCain machine wants and it’s run out of greed and power.” [6/11/2022]

• “We’re taking on a corrupt machine that has run Arizona for a generation, maybe a generation and a half. Some people call it the McCain Swamp, the McCain Machine, the McCain Mafia.” [7/29/2022]