No surprise here, but Donald Trump managed to sniff out yet another fraudster in Arizona's gubernatorial race to put his substantial weight behind, and it's not exactly going as planned.
Opponents of MAGA enthusiast and onetime local TV news anchor Kari Lake have dubbed the Trump pick "Fake Lake," which Politico reports appears to be sticking. Lake, who continues to baselessly claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, is already pushing a 2022 midterm election fraud narrative as insurance against a potential loss.
“Kari Lake is misleading voters with no evidence. She’s been tagged by her opponents with a nickname, Fake Lake, which seems to be sticking and actually doing some damage,” Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said on CNN’s State of the Union.
Ducey and former Trump Vice President Mike Pence have both lined up behind Lake's opponent, Republican donor Karrin Taylor Robson, in the GOP primary. In a statement Monday, Pence called Robson, a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, "the best choice for Arizona's future" and said he was proud to support her. The state's primary takes place two weeks from Tuesday.
This is the second gubernatorial race in which Pence has gone toe-to-toe with his former boss. Pence prevailed in the last go-round in Georgia, where he backed incumbent GOP Gov. Brian Kemp over former Sen. David Perdue, who launched a challenge against Kemp at Trump's urging. Perdue's candidacy imploded in rather spectacular fashion.
The Arizona GOP gubernatorial primary is far more competitive. Lake maintains a slim lead, but Robson has been gaining steam in the matchup.
Lake's opponents are now making a heavy push to expose her duplicity. Noting Lake's support for former President Barack Obama, senior Pence adviser Marc Short said Lake is “perpetrating a fraud on Arizona Republican primary voters who ultimately will not be distracted by a parade of clowns at the circus.”
Lake has also run afoul of Richard Stevens, the popular Arizona drag queen known as Barbra Seville, who called out the candidate's hypocrisy for politically targeting drag queens as pedophiles despite previously befriending them.
"Now that @karilake Kari Halperin has waded in to the war on drag queens, know she is a complete hypocrite," read a post on Seville's Facebook page. "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," the post continued, calling Lake "a friend of mine."
Can Pence, who Trumpers absolutely despise, go two-for-two in his matchups against Trump? Stay tuned.
Opponents of MAGA enthusiast and onetime local TV news anchor Kari Lake have dubbed the Trump pick "Fake Lake," which Politico reports appears to be sticking. Lake, who continues to baselessly claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, is already pushing a 2022 midterm election fraud narrative as insurance against a potential loss.
“Kari Lake is misleading voters with no evidence. She’s been tagged by her opponents with a nickname, Fake Lake, which seems to be sticking and actually doing some damage,” Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said on CNN’s State of the Union.
Ducey and former Trump Vice President Mike Pence have both lined up behind Lake's opponent, Republican donor Karrin Taylor Robson, in the GOP primary. In a statement Monday, Pence called Robson, a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, "the best choice for Arizona's future" and said he was proud to support her. The state's primary takes place two weeks from Tuesday.
This is the second gubernatorial race in which Pence has gone toe-to-toe with his former boss. Pence prevailed in the last go-round in Georgia, where he backed incumbent GOP Gov. Brian Kemp over former Sen. David Perdue, who launched a challenge against Kemp at Trump's urging. Perdue's candidacy imploded in rather spectacular fashion.
The Arizona GOP gubernatorial primary is far more competitive. Lake maintains a slim lead, but Robson has been gaining steam in the matchup.
Lake's opponents are now making a heavy push to expose her duplicity. Noting Lake's support for former President Barack Obama, senior Pence adviser Marc Short said Lake is “perpetrating a fraud on Arizona Republican primary voters who ultimately will not be distracted by a parade of clowns at the circus.”
Lake has also run afoul of Richard Stevens, the popular Arizona drag queen known as Barbra Seville, who called out the candidate's hypocrisy for politically targeting drag queens as pedophiles despite previously befriending them.
"Now that @karilake Kari Halperin has waded in to the war on drag queens, know she is a complete hypocrite," read a post on Seville's Facebook page. "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," the post continued, calling Lake "a friend of mine."
Can Pence, who Trumpers absolutely despise, go two-for-two in his matchups against Trump? Stay tuned.