Kari Lake, Republican gubernatorial candidate for Arizona, has threatened to be the media’s “worst freakin’ nightmare” for the next eight years.
Lake, a former Fox 10 news anchor, made the statement to reporters after voting in Tuesday’s election, in which she will face Democratic Arizona governor candidate Katie Hobbs. A reporter questioned if she planned to serve two terms if elected, considering that she may be a possible vice presidential candidate if former President Donald Trump competes for reelection.
“Are you new to this race? Because we’ve discussed it previously,” Lake explained. “We’ve spoken about it, I’ve answered the question: I’m not just going to be Arizona’s governor for four years, but I’m going to do two terms and be your worst nightmare for eight whole years. And we will transform the media as well. We’re going to turn you all back into journalists. So be ready, it’s going to be an exciting eight years, and I can’t wait to work with you.”
Lake has been a tough critic of the media, notably its election coverage. Outside of a campaign event in June, she accused CNN Reporter Kyung Lah of spreading “propaganda.” Lah interviewed Lake before the primary campaign, and the candidate chastised her for perpetuating a narrative and “not giving a damn” about election integrity.
“You believe anything they say,” Lake told Lah. “These are the same guys who opposed the forensic audit. I understand what you’re trying to do; you don’t care about our elections. You’ve got a story to tell, and you’re attempting to sell it.”
“And what is that story?” Lake said, “The story is, it’s fraud, it’s false. I’ll be damned if we have another election this way when I’m governor.”
During the Black Voices event For Kari “Ask Me Anything Tour,” Lake slammed the media for failing to highlight Democrats denying elections. She put up documents and recited quotes from Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams questioning if the 2016 presidential and 2018 Georgia gubernatorial elections were legitimate.
“So it’s acceptable for Democrats to doubt elections but not for Republicans? Everyone knows that’s nonsense, but we have our freedom of expression and we’re not going to give it up to a bunch of false news propagandists,” Kari Lake told reporters.
