Kari Lake in Cave Creek, Arizona, June 5, 2022. Photo courtesy of Kari Lake for Governor.
Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate, Kari Lake, has called to lock up Maricopa County election officials, calling them “crooks.” The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld reports:
Defeated Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake called for Maricopa County election officials to be “locked up” on Sunday as Lake gears up to contest her opponent’s certified victory in court hearings this week.
Speaking to a crowd of young conservatives at Turning Point USA’s America Fest, Lake discussed her election contest at length, repeating unproven allegations about both the 2020 presidential election and Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs’s (D) victory last month.
“These people are crooks, they need to be locked up,” Lake said of Maricopa County election officials, after listing off a series of largely disproven claims about election fraud.
Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous jurisdiction that includes Phoenix, has become an epicenter for allegations of voter disenfranchisement after some Election Day vote centers experienced printer malfunctions.
Election officials acknowledged the issues and insisted affected voters could use one of multiple backup options.
But Lake and others in the GOP have claimed the issues effectively amounted to voter disenfranchisement, noting that Election Day ballots in the state favor Republicans.
Lake on Sunday compared her challenge to the Founding Fathers fighting against British tyranny, repeatedly naming Benjamin Franklin and others as she said their blood is “coursing through our veins.”
“They were fed up with tyrants, and they weren’t going to take it anymore,” Lake said. “I think we’re right there, right now, aren’t we?”
Maricopa County and Hobbs, in both her capacities as secretary of state and as a gubernatorial candidate, asked a state judge to dismiss Lake’s election challenge.
Oral arguments on the motion are set for Monday, and a two-day trial is scheduled for later this week if the case moves forward.
Lake at Sunday’s event said she wasn’t sure how the judge would rule on the dismissal motion, asking the crowd to pray for him.
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