Welcome to The Meltdown, a weekly rundown of every laugh and gaffe in the chaotic and crazy GOP gubernatorial primary. The two major Republicans in the race, Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson, are battling it out to prove who’s the most unhinged and on the fringe. It can be hard to keep track of every tweet, ad and interview, so we’ve done that for you. Enjoy!

Tweet of the Week

Gubernatorial Debate Goes Off the Rails- Incompetence and immaturity were on full display during the first and only GOP gubernatorial debate as Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson spent the hour shouting over each other and the rest of the GOP field, Scott Neely and Paola Tulliani Zen, name calling, trading insults and focusing on anything but how they would solve real issues that matter to Arizona voters. You can catch the debate here. 

Kari Lake and Karrin Taylor Robson Want To Ban Abortion Pills–Both leading candidates said they support and would enforce Arizona’s 1901, pre-Roe and statehood ban on abortion, which would prohibit the procedure in nearly all cases at all stages and would criminalize and imprison doctors who perform it. Then they both took it a step further and said they’d also ban abortion pills. 

Dragged by a drag queen- Kari Lake decided to attack a group that always has the receipts and isn’t afraid to use them. Lake tweeted, “They kicked God out of schools and welcomed the Drag Queens. They took down our Flag and replaced it with a rainbow.” That’s when Rick Stevens, who has performed as Barbra Seville for decades, fired back on Facebook, saying that since Lake “waded into the war on drag queens, know she is a complete hypocrite.” Stevens continued with photographic proof that “I’ve performed for Kari’s birthday, I’ve performed in her home (with children present,) and I’ve performed for her at some of the seediest bars in Phoenix.” 

Karrin Taylor Robson Goes Dumpster Diving- Taylor Robson put out an appallingly homophobic and transphobic new ad that tries to capitalize on the Kari Lake, Barbra Seville drama.