Sometimes a politician comes along that just consistently hits the right notes, and all you can do is respect the game. That’s Kari Lake, who has wiped away all questions that existed about her during the primary to run one of the best on-message campaigns of the cycle.
On Sunday, Lake took a reporter to the woodshed on the issue of abortion, turning the tables to both affirm the value of life and blast the radicalism of Katie Hobbs, her Democrat opponent. On Tuesday, though, the Republican painted her masterpiece. While speaking to a press gaggle eager to ask her “gotcha” questions, Lake turned into a rhetorical ninja, slicing and dicing Hobbs while effectively shaming the press in the process.
If you are at all able, watch the entire video. I’ll paraphrase it, but it’s worth hitting the play button.
The first part of the clip sees Lake mentioning that Hobbs was “twice convicted of being a racist.” Now, that line drives the “fact-checkers” mad, but the rhetorical device is obvious. No, Hobbs was not convicted of a crime because being a racist is not a crime. But she was a state senator who testified against a black woman who eventually won a discrimination settlement against the Arizona Senate. In fact, Hobbs was so involved that she issued an apology for her behavior in 2021. In the end, a jury awarded $2.75 million in damages, most of which hasn’t been paid out yet, but will be.
Lake was then asked about why Hobbs won’t debate, and the Republican goes for the jugular, noting this is the first time since the governor’s debate has been held that another candidate has just refused to show up. As Lake points out, if Hobbs thinks she’s a “conspiracy theorist,” then she should show up and call her out. Instead, the Democrat cries that she might get shouted at. And this person wants to be governor of a major state?
The next part of the clip is especially hilarious. Lake describes how at the Univision forum the night before, Hobbs was so terrified that she made them put up drapes to keep the two candidates separated. Worse, Hobbs also demanded that the two park on different sides of the building so they wouldn’t see each other coming in. As Lake notes, Hobbs’ behavior is “unhinged.”
Things move from there to talking about how Hobbs would be completely unable to fight for Arizona. “Kristi Noem would eat her up and spit her out,” Lake states. From there, the Republican returns to deconstruct the racism talking point a bit more, ending to the cheers of the crowd.
With all that said, can anyone explain what Hobbs’ strategy is here? I get she’s the GOAT Karen, but my word, her campaign strategy is quite literally the most moronic thing I’ve ever seen in politics. She won’t debate, she pretends her opponent is contagious, and all the while she has no message but to say “abortion” over and over as if the nation’s economic hardships don’t exist. People told me she was a bad candidate, but man is she surpassing even those expectations.