Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard hit the campaign trail for Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on Tuesday night, just days after Gabbard announced she has exited the Democratic party.
“We have to go back to basics because the basics are under attack,” Gabbard said.
“Now is not the time for cowards. Now is not the time for leaders driven by fear,” the former presidential candidate said when mentioned Hobbs’ refusal to debate Lake.
Gabbard doubled down and said that Lake has “a backbone that will not waver.”
Lake and Gabbard were joined by senatorial nominee Blake Masters and Attorney General nominee Abe Hamadeh at the Arizona Young Republican Engagement Forum in Chandler.
“This is a moment when I think we all are doing soul searching,” Lake said about Gabbard’s recent party switch.
“I can’t be bought, I can’t be bribed, I can’t be controlled,” Lake later added.
Most of the conversation between her and the former congresswoman focused on the Democratic Party and how Republicans can reach people who have left or independents in general. Lake herself talked about how she was a registered Democrat for a few years because of the wars in the Middle East.
Gabbard formerly represented Hawaii’s Second Congressional District from 2013 to 2021, and she was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary election.
“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that’s under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers who are driven by cowardly weakness,” she said in a video last week.
Gabbard has since become a popular figure in some conservative circles, and she even guest-hosted “Tucker Carlson Tonight” back in August. She is endorsing other Republicans such as New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc, who, like Lake, is backed by former President Donald Trump.
“Being tired or being lazy has no place when our future, our freedom, and our security is at stake,” Gabbard said at the conclusion of her discussion with the Arizona Republican.
As for Lake, numerous politicians have come to arrive to tout their endorsements. Trump held a rally for her and the rest of the statewide Republican slate in Mesa earlier this month, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have made stops as well.
On Wednesday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who won his competitive race in Virginia last November, will be holding rallies for Lake in both Tuscon and Scottsdale. Youngkin has been campaigning for Republican gubernatorial candidates across the country, including Christine Drazan in Oregon and Mark Ronchetti in New Mexico.
Lake’s statewide televised interview with the Citizens Clean Elections Commission has a new time and place following the debacle with Arizona PBS, which will air Sunday at 5 p.m. on KAZT/AZTV7. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs’ interview with Arizona PBS aired on Tuesday evening.
The Real Clear Politics polling average has Lake up by 1.2 percent against Hobbs, and FiveThirtyEight gives Lake a 56 in 100 chance of winning.