‘Aggressively dishonest’: Trump-backed Kari Lake whacked with brutal CNN fact check
Election denier Kari Lake was the subject of a hard-hitting new analysis by CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale.
"A leading Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, Kari Lake, continues to put lies about the 2020 presidential election at the center of her campaign – this week calling it 'disqualifying' and 'sickening' for a rival candidate not to say that the election was stolen, though it wasn’t stolen," he reported. "Lake’s strong performance in the Republican primary so far means that an aggressively dishonest promoter of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election could potentially have a prominent role in the 2024 presidential election in a key swing state."
At the debate, Lake lied about President Joe Biden when she said, “He lost the election and he shouldn’t be in the White House.”
\u201c\u201cWould you agree that we had a corrupt, stolen election? Raise your hand\u201d \n\nOnly one #AZGOV Candidate REFUSED to raise her hand: Karrin Taylor Robson. \n\nDisqualifying.\u201d— Kari Lake for AZ Governor (@Kari Lake for AZ Governor) 1656549299
"As supposed proof, Lake cited a 'forensic audit.' A shambolic Republican-initiated partisan review, described by supporters as an audit but marred by problems, confirmed that Biden beat Trump in Arizona’s most populous county," Dale noted. "Lake also defended a right-wing film about the 2020 election that is filled with holes of logic and evidence, even after the debate moderator noted that Trump-appointed former Attorney General William Barr had scoffed at the film. And Lake falsely said that 34,000 Arizona ballots 'were counted two, three and four times,' though this simply did not happen."
And Lake is even trying to clean up her lies during the debate.
"Lake’s campaign declined to make a substantive comment for this article. When asked for supporting information about Lake’s false claim that ballots were counted up to four times, an adviser replied only by mocking CNN," Dale reported.
Early voting begins on Wednesday in the August 2 GOP
Lake has been endorsed by Trump.
\u201cArizona's Kari Lake, who is waging one of the country's most aggressively dishonest 2022 campaigns, says it\u2019s "disqualifying" and "sickening" for her top rival to not call the 2020 election "stolen," though it wasn't stolen: https://t.co/N8BvSt5wCX\u201d— Daniel Dale (@Daniel Dale) 1656711688