Former news anchor Kari Lake is on a mission to become Arizona’s next Governor. She is currently leading in a new poll against Democrat Katie Hobbs. Left-wing Data for Progress conducted the survey which shows Lake at 51 percent and Hobbs at 47 percent.
Lake wants to sign a Declaration of Invasion on the southern border, and she is calling for an expansion of school choice options for parents.
Here is part of the Q&A:
Levon Satamian: What are three of the biggest issues facing Arizonans?
Kari Lake: Inflation and housing costs, our unsecured border and the fentanyl crisis coming with it, andpublic safety.
LS: What steps must be taken in Arizona to end the southern border crisis and fentanyl crisis?
KL: The Biden Administration has completely failed to protect Arizonans from this crisis. Day one, I’ve promised to declare an invasion on the border and use Arizona’s right under the U.S. Constitution to protect ourselves. We’re going to finish Trump’s wall, turn illegal border crossers back, and take the cartels head-on.
LS: Some people will take your stance on the border crisis as “anti-immigrant” — what is your message to those who claim you are against immigration altogether due to your stance on illegals coming into America?
KL: The U.S. takes in more legal immigrants each year than the rest of the world combined. We welcome legal immigrants to this country, and will continue to do so.
LS: What are your thoughts on Texas Governor Abbott busing illegals to Washington D.C. and New York? Would you take the same approach?
KL: I think it’s an effective PR play, and has brought needed attention to our border crisis and the utter hypocrisy of sanctuary city leftists. But, no, I understand what Gov. Abbott and Gov. DeSantis are doing, but I want to stop these illegal crossers at the border, turn them around and send them back to their home countries, not transport them further into this one.
LS: There was an article written by Laurie Roberts on AZ Central, with the headline reading “Kari Lake once supported transgender youth. Now she denies they exist.” I wanted to get your side of this story. Is this a fair characterization of your views, and if it is, what changed from then to now?
KL: Laurie Roberts is on a desperate mission to try to stop me from becoming governor. I have no problem with transgender people, and I generally believe adults are free to live however they want. My issue is with the part of the transgender movement that is trying to sexualize children through our schools. It’s totally wrong. Young kids shouldn’t have transgender ideology pushed on them at school. It’s grooming, and it’s gross. They’re there to be kids and get a great education, not be sexualized for the perverted pleasure of adults.
LS: On the flip side, a lot of GOP voters are energized by your campaign, your message, and what the future of Arizona would look like under your leadership. How will you appeal to moderate Democrats and Independent voters to persuade them to vote for you in November?
KL: I tell people all the time, ‘look at my policies.’ Look at the approaches I’ve put together on homelessness, water, dual-track education, and more. I don’t think they’re policies for the right, or the left, they’re just good common-sense ideas, most of which we can all agree on. We can all agree we want our kids to get a great foundational education and have as many opportunities as possible when they graduate. We can all agree that living on the street with a needle in your arm is not the life God intended for any of us. We can all agree that abundant clean water and reliable energy are good things.
LS: You were a television anchor for KSAZ-TV for 22 years. Is local media in Arizona heading in the same direction as the mainstream media?
KL: It’s already there, that’s why I left. As long as I was in the news business, there was always a leftist tilt, but we still covered the news – all of it – and mostly did it fairly. In the last few years, especially since Covid, that has gone away. Most reporters here and around the country are now little more than Democrat operatives with a byline.
LS: Currently, what is the biggest problem with the mainstream media?
KL: They live in an Ivy League bubble, surrounded by other cultural elites who view the world through the exact same distorted prism they do. The corporate media doesn’t understand most Americans, or most Arizonans. They have nothing in common with them. And media elites don’t have any interest in bridging that gap. Instead, they view the average person in this country with derision and contempt, and think it’s the job of elites like them to “educate” the unwashed masses. They’re totally out of touch.
LS: What are your thoughts on Liz Cheney campaigning against you?
KL: (Deferred to her comments on Fox News): “That might be the biggest, best gift I have ever received. The Republican Party, the new Republican Party, is the party of we, the people. It is no longer the party of warmongers. Liz Cheney probably should change her voter registration. Turns out she really is a Democrat after all.”