Republican Kari Lake, endorsed by Donald Trump, was warned by close advisors over the weekend to not claim the Arizona election for governor, where she was the Republican nominee, was stolen.
She appears to be ignoring that advice.
Arizona Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs Monday night became the projected winner, per NBC News and MSNBC, just hours after Lake strongly suggested the election was not conducted fairly, a claim she had started to make the day after Election Day.
Late Monday afternoon on Fox News, Lake – considered the strongest of Trump-endorsed “Big Lie” MAGA candidates – declared the election “botched,” and claimed “thousands” said they had problems voting.
“How do you certify an election that is this botched?” Lake asked Fox News propagandist Jesse Watters. “And she’s the one that would certify her own election? Where it was botched? Where the machines did not work?”
“I don’t know how we remedy this,” Lake continued.
“The people of Arizona are furious, they’re reaching out to us by the thousands, saying, ‘I don’t think my vote was even counted,” Lake irresponsibly claimed.
She also claimed others told her, “I didn’t even get a chance to vote, there were so many hoops to jump through.”
Arizona currently has a Republican governor.
Lake said it was “outrageous” that workers could not get six hours off to vote.
Also Monday Lake and white Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk were promoting a website set up to allow supporters share personal stories of voting difficulties.
“Were you kept from voting on election day? Were you disenfranchised from voting? Did you experience irregularities at the polls? Report your experience immediately!” it reads.
The Washington Post Monday afternoon had reported that Lake is “staring down a likely loss in the Arizona governor’s race,” and “is being advised by GOP operatives and some of her closest aides to take a measured approach should she come up short in the vote tally and not ‘storm the castle,’ as one person present for the discussions described the sentiments.”
Despite being advised to not claim the election was stolen, “Lake relies largely on her own instincts, according to current and former aides, and may go in a different direction than the one suggested by her team and those in the war room.”
Watch Lake below or at this link.
Image of Katie Hobbs, Kari Lake by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license