kari lake

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TRIFECTA

cave primary 3 24 on persistence, running for VP?

merri ok

ORBAN FAN? 11 25

SEE PRESS SUPPRESSION VOA

SEE TRUMP COUP 12TH AMEND LAWSUIT GOHMERT

WOD3 TheBrain

see violent rhet hype fear they are coming for you

see defam 2

:{:{:{barely won primary, complained about slow results}:

bak

-=-=

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RWW 11 26

Jennifer Bowers Bahney @ Mediaite: Trump Allies Kari Lake and Liz Harrington Suggest the Election Was Rigged: ‘Makes No Sense. Zero’

Trump acolytes Kari Lake and Liz Harrington are continuing to beat the drum over the midterm elections being “rigged,” despite President Donald Trump himself telling The New York Times that he accepted the results that had Republicans getting trounced across the country.

-=-=-=

AN 7 26 CAND FOR GOV?

Arizona was once a deep-red state known for the conservative GOP politics of Sen. Barry Goldwater and his successor, John McCain. But these days, Arizona is a swing state that has a Democratic governor (Katie Hobbs) and two Democratic U.S. senators (Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego) yet went to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. According to New York Times reporters Reis Thebault and Kellen Browning, Arizona Republicans are having a heated debate over two competing visions for their party — one that finds far-right MAGA culture warriors up against the type of traditional conservatives who dominated Arizona politics for decades.

"The bombastic, culture-war brand of politics embraced by Mr. Trump's most vocal allies in Arizona has proved a poor fit with the moderate Arizona voters who often decide statewide contests," Thebault and Browning report in the Times. "They have repeatedly passed over Republican firebrands, including Kari Lake and Blake Masters, in favor of Democrats they see as less extreme.

Some Republicans fear the party is poised to repeat its mistake this year by nominating (Rep. Andy) Biggs in Tuesday's GOP primary to face Gov. Katie Hobbs, a vulnerable Democratic incumbent, in November. Seeking to alleviate those concerns, Mr. Biggs has spent much of his campaign attempting to persuade voters that he is more electable than Ms. Lake, whose polarizing comments and baseless claims of election fraud alienated independents and even some Republicans during her unsuccessful bids for governor and Senate."

Biggs, who formerly chaired the House Freedom Caucus, is known for being a far-right Trump ally. But according to Thebault and Browning, he is trying to appear more moderate as he competes for Arizona's 2026 GOP gubernatorial nomination.

"On the debate stage last month in Arizona," the Times reporters note, "Rep. Andy Biggs, the leading candidate in the state's Republican primary for governor, did not try to convince voters that he was the most conservative candidate in the race. He did not tout his Freedom Caucus bona fides, nor his push to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Instead, he styled himself as a bipartisan dealmaker who has worked with Democrats, including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. 'Here's the bottom line: I know how to reach across the aisle,' Mr. Biggs said during the debate."

Arizona Republicans, according to Thebault and Browning, "have been at war with one another up and down the ballot, from the governor's contest to lower-profile races." Turning Point USA, the right-wing group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, has been heavily involved in Arizona GOP primaries — and the Times reporters note that the group's "heavy hand has begun to draw backlash."

Veteran GOP strategist/pollster Paul Bentz told the Times, "The dominant force in the primary at this point is the MAGA wing. It's a contest to see who can be the most MAGA."

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an 5 26

President Donald Trump had big plans for outspoken MAGA ally Kari Lake, but with those plans having thoroughly imploded, a new MS NOW analysis explained how she has been given a familiar "consolation prize."

Lake first emerged as a news anchor in Phoenix, Arizona, before making the jump to politics as an avowed supporter of Trump and the MAGA movement. Despite high hopes for her as a future star for the Republican Party, the transition largely flopped, as she lost the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race to Democrat Katie Hobbs and the 2024 Senate race to Democrat Ruben Gallego.

With no actual electoral success to her name, Trump attempted to install her as the next director for Voice of America, the international broadcaster funded by the U.S. government, amid plans to gut the institution and reshape it into a more right-wing form with the help of One America News. This effort, too, fell flat after a judge ruled that she was ineligible to serve at the head of VOA, invalidating her tenure and reversing the mass layoffs she had overseen.

In the wake of all that failure, Trump on Monday nominated Lake to serve as the new ambassador to Jamaica, echoing an emerging pattern of the president placing close alliesin key diplomatic roles.

"President Trump on Monday appointed Kari Lake, a fierce ally of the president who had led the administration’s efforts to shutter Voice of America and other federally funded news groups, as the next ambassador to Jamaica," the New York Times reported this week. "Her appointment, if confirmed by the Senate, would end her tumultuous time at the parent agency for federally funded news groups that broadcast to countries with limited press freedom, such as China, Russia and Iran."

Writing about the development on Tuesday, Steve Benen, a longtime contributor and producer for MS NOW, wrote that the appointment of Lake fit a growing pattern from the administration and its handling of MAGA allies with failed political ambitions.

"Lake’s nomination coincided with the president also tapping Pennsylvania’s Doug Mastriano — another prominent Republican election denier who launched a gubernatorial campaign that failed — to serve as U.S. ambassador to Slovakia," Benen wrote. "The far-right state senator will also need to be confirmed by the Republican-led Senate. Time will tell when and whether Lake and Mastriano receive the support they’ll need on Capitol Hill, but their nominations are emblematic of a larger pattern: The White House sure does like to hand out ambassadorships to those whose earlier political plans didn’t quite work out."

Benen further detailed the various names who received a similar parachute from Trump: Mike Waltz was named U.N. ambassador after being ousted as White House national security adviser; former GOP Rep. Billy Long went from an "incredibly short tenure" leading the IRS to serving as ambassador to Iceland; and, John Giordano went from a failed interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey to serving as the ambassador to Namibia.

"Even Kristi Noem, after her many failures as the head of the Department of Homeland Security, made the transition to a diplomatic role as 'special envoy' to the Shield of the Americas, a poorly defined security initiative for the Western Hemisphere," Benen concluded. "As an Associated Press report summarized last year, 'Diplomacy may be soft power, but in President Donald Trump’s administration, it’s also lately a soft landing.'

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GGL 11 25

Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (.gov)

Ranking Member Shaheen Condemns Kari Lake’s Assault on U.S. Supported Independent Media in Hungary

“As President Trump welcomes Orbán to the White House, Kari Lake is seeking to erode the press freedom that remains in Hungary by claiming to...

2 weeks ago

KJZZ

Under oath, Kari Lake refuses to concede Arizona Senate, governor race losses

Under oath, Kari Lake refuses to concede Arizona Senate, governor race losses ... Kari Lake speaking with attendees at a meeting of the Arizona...

Sep 26, 2025

PBS

WATCH: Trump adviser Kari Lake testifies in hearing on U.S. agency that runs Voice of America

Kari Lake, the former Arizona newscaster turned Republican politician, testified that the U.S. Agency for Global Media is “rotten to the core”...

Jun 25, 2025

NPR

Kari Lake takes her war on Voice of America to Congress

Kari Lake takes her war on Voice of America to Congress.

Jun 26, 2025

U.S. Agency for Global Media (.gov)

USAGM, Senior Advisor Kari Lake cancels obscenely expensive 15-year-lease that burdened the taxpayers and enforces Trump's Executive Order to drastically downsize agency

USAGM, Senior Advisor Kari Lake cancels obscenely expensive 15-year-lease that burdened the taxpayers and enforces Trump's Executive Order to drastically...

Mar 15, 2025

Congressman Michael McCaul (.gov)

McCaul Discusses Importance of USAGM's Work in Iran with Kari Lake at House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing

Discussed the importance of the US Agency for Global Media's work in Iran with Senior Advisor for USAGM Kari Lake.

Jun 25, 2025

The Washington Post

Kari Lake defends VOA cuts in court after warnings from Capitol Hill

Kari Lake defends VOA cuts in court after warnings from Capitol Hill. As Trump lieutenant tells a federal judge she is following the law in...

Aug 14, 2025

Politico

Kari Lake heads to Capitol Hill after gutting an agency Trump hates

Kari Lake heads to Capitol Hill after gutting an agency Trump hates. Lake, who lost two statewide elections in Arizona, will headline a hearing...

Jun 25, 2025

Oregon Public Broadcasting - OPB

Judge orders Kari Lake to answer questions about Voice of America under oath

Judge orders Kari Lake to answer questions about Voice of America under oath ... Aug. 26, 2025 7:41 a.m.. Trump adviser Kari Lake holds up a photograph,...

Aug 26, 2025

capradio.org

Federal judge says Kari Lake can't fire Voice of America director

Lake, named initially to be a senior adviser to the agency, is now running it and has styled herself as its acting chief executive. As NPR has...

Aug 28, 2025

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aha hmmn do they look for cUdgel before cop eg UK server -gate?

mma

Ahead of COP30, right-wing media misrepresented Bill Gates' memo to declare climate change is over

Climate scientists question why Gates is pitting poverty reduction against climate action

Special ProgramsClimate & Energy

Written by Allison Fisher

Research contributions from Ilana Berger

Published 11/14/25

Ahead of COP30 — the United Nations climate summit which began November 6 in Brazil — Bill Gates released a memo targeted at the international climate community which argued that “although climate change will have serious consequences—particularly for people in the poorest countries—it will not lead to humanity’s demise” and called for a “strategic pivot” on climate change to prioritize “human welfare.”

Bill Weir, CNN’s chief climate correspondent, correctly predicted how right-wing media would respond: “This will be used by detractors and denialists to say that the story is shifting.”

On *CNN News Central’*s day one coverage of COP30, Erica Hill laid out some of the impact of Gates’ memo at a time when the United States is already turning its back on the “world’s largest climate summit”:

> President Trump, of course, has called climate change a, quote, con job. That's despite the overwhelming evidence of its reality and the very real threat it poses. President Trump seemed to get an assist recently from Bill Gates, who argued that resources actually should be shifted away from the battle against climate change. It's a move that experts have said is just flat out wrong.

In fact, in response to Gates' memo, Trump posted on Truth Social that “I (WE!) just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax” because Bill Gates had “finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue.” Gates said that Trump and other right-wing media reactions that echo his remarks are a “gigantic misreading of the memo,” while he has also pushed back at “climate scientists who said he was setting up a false dichotomy pitting climate efforts against foreign aid.”

## Right-wing media celebrate Bill Gates’ shift on climate, misrepresent his memo to downplay the climate crisis

The Associated Press reported that Bill Gates remarked: “If you think climate is not important, you won't agree with the memo. If you think climate is the only cause and apocalyptic, you won't agree with the memo.”

But there it seems Gates was wrong. Right-wing media figures, who regularly downplay the climate crisis are likely among those who “think climate is not important,” and they are not disagreeing with the memo. They have celebrated it and used it to further downplay the climate crisis, attack climate science as “fraudulent,” and advance right-wing narratives and misinformation related to global warming, including denying sea level rise, suggesting that current climate change is unremarkable because the climate has been changing for billions of years, and pushing the “global cooling” myth.

- The New York Post editorial board concluded, “If Gates wants any credit for belatedly seeing the light, he needs to put maximum effort into getting the left’s climate warriors to wake up, too.” NY Post, [10/28/25]

- Former Fox News host John Stossel used Bill Gates’ memo to push his climate change denial content on social media, writing, “Welcome to the club, Bill. Here 3 climate scientists debunk several of the doomsday myths.”Stossel shared one of his videos featuring three climate skeptics, Willie Soon, David Legates, and Patrick Michaels, from an event at The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank that has received funding from fossil fuel interests. Twitter/X, [10/28/25; Media Matters, 1/16/24, 8/14/25; NPR, 9/12/20; Desmog; accessed 11/10/25]

- Hannity.com: “CLIMATE KOOK FLIPS! Bill Gates Suggests Rethinking Climate Change 'Doomsday Outlook'”Hannity.com, [10/28/25]

- Fox host Jimmy Failla claimed that Gates’ memo proves climate change is a “grift” and pushed the misleading narrative that the climate is always changing. Failla continued:“What an about face. And it really gives up the whole entire grift we always knew it was. It drives me crazy because, you know this, the movement has not only changed again but changed in name three times before we got here. We were going to freeze to death in the ‘70s. Can you give me some money? We were going to melt in the ‘80s. Can you give me a few bucks? Then they were like, we're not freezing or melting, but the weather changes every day. How about a couple of bucks.” Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [10/29/25; climatefactcheck.org,

6/22/22]

- Glenn Beck, founder of TheBlaze, wrote on his website that Gates did a “strategic pivot” because “the ruling class” finds AI “more useful than fear of the weather.”“Climate alarmism gave elites a pretext to centralize power over energy. Artificial intelligence gives them a mechanism to centralize power over people,” he later wrote. [Glennbeck.com,

10/29/25]

- In an interview with Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt, conspiracy theorist and U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake said, “When we get documents declassified on the climate hoax, he’s probably trying to get ahead of what happens then.”Newsmax, *Rob Schmitt Tonight,* [10/29/25; Media Matters, 12/12/24]

- OnAmerica’s Newsroom, co-host Bill Hemmer used the memo to falsely claim that “rising sea levels just ain’t happening.” “He says it will not lead to the humanities demise. … Maybe an asteroid will, but the rising sea levels just ain’t happening as Al Gore warned us back in 2005.” The World Economic Forum has said that “rising sea levels caused by climate change are impacting 1 billion people worldwide,” while “2024 saw an unexpectedly fast rising of sea levels, which are already unprecedented.” Fox News, *America’s Newsroom*, [10/29/25; World Economic Forum, 3/25/25]

- OnOutnumbered, Fox News contributor Kaylee McGhee White said “climate change doomerism” was a ploy to “drive young adults … to leftist activism.” “This is the least surprising development ever. I think that the climate change doomerism, it was always a ploy, the real purpose of which was to drive young adults my age into leftist activism, that is all it was a vehicle for. And you know, what’s frustrating about this is Bill Gates is suddenly switching his position, but there is no new science behind." Fox News, *Outnumbered*, [10/29/25]

- Fox’s Will Cain hosted Alex Epstein, author of the petroleum-promoting bookFossil Future, and suggested that fossil fuel advocacy is the “potential explanations for the change of heart of Bill Gates.” He claimed, “It is really most of the thoughtful scientists and thinkers through the last several hundred years who have understood the power of fossil fuels and economic growth in helping the vast majority of people across the world. Maybe that finally broke through to Bill Gates. Maybe just seeing the writing on the wall in modern America and under President Donald Trump.” Fox News, *The Will Cain Show*, [10/29/25; Media Matters, 11/4/25]

- OnThe Five, Greg Gutfeld claimed that “people were told to stop having kids” and that Gates' shift is akin to admitting the “climate models … are fraudulent.”Gutfeld said, “It was a lie that impacted the mental health of generations and the physical health of a civilization. People were told to stop having kids. If you had kids you were hurting the planet. But it is hopeful that Gates and others are ceding to reality. We saw it happen already. Nobody is talking about data anymore because the data, the climate models, they are finally admitting are fraudulent, they were retrofitted so that they matched the results they were getting, and now that is out in the open.” Fox News, *The Five*, [10/29/25]

- Fox host Joey Jones claimed that Gates’ memo meant that Trump “won the climate change war.”“I think Trump has won another war. He won the climate change war now. Americans are coming around. You want to talk about petroleum products, think about how much oil is used to make all of those syringes for all of those vaccines during Covid. I mean just the impact and imprint of petroleum on our lives is endless,” Jones claimed. Fox News, *The Five*, [10/29/25]

- Contributor Katie Pavlich told Fox Business’Kudlowthat she wants “reparations for damage this guy [Bill Gates] did on the climate change front.”She claimed, “There were years of groups that were funded by Bill Gates, foreigners doing fact checks on conservative web sites like TownHall, demonetizing us for talking about climate change and that it’s not going to destroy humanity and in fact a lot of the science has been bought and paid for and has been debunked on this issue. I would get laughed at when I would point out I am from Arizona, and you can find sea shells, fossils at the top of the Grand Canyon because yes, climate change has been happening for billions of years.” Fox Business, *Kudlow*, [10/29/25]

- Frequent Fox guest and climate denier Marc Morano on Fox Business’The Evening Editsuggested that Bill Gates “knew” all along that climate change was nonsense.“Bill Gates knew in the year 2000 that the climate agenda was complete bleep. He knew in 2010 it was nonsense, he knew in 2020 it was nonsense, but only in 2025 is he willing to tell the truth. And the reason is he needs connections. He needs energy.” [Fox Business, The Evening Edit,

10/30/25; Washington Post, 9/16/16; Media Matters, 12/17/12; 5/22/19]

Newsmax host Rob Finnerty falsely claimed that Gates is “saying that it’s [climate change] not real.Finnerty said, “Now think about what Democrats have done to all of us in reaction to the climate hysteria created by people like Bill Gates over the last five decades: wind farms, electric cars, carbon footprint, bike lanes, electric buses, eating less meat, renewable energy. We could go on all night and all of it was total garbage. … Bill Gates, who's been right there with always-wrong Al Gore warning us of impending doom for years now, saying that it's not real.” Newsmax, *Finnerty*, [10/31/25]

Right-wing streamer Zack Hoyt, known online as Asmongold, told his audience that Bill Gates no longer believes in climate change and quotes Trump’s Truth Social Post.“You know who else doesn't believe in climate change recently? Bill Gates. Bill Gates has dramatically changed his position on climate change, acknowledging for the first time that there is no doomsday risk for, of global warming. … We just won the war on the climate change hoax. Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely wrong on the issue.” [YouTube, AsmongoldTV,

]}:

- Fox & Friends Weekendguest and Republican strategist Mehek Cooke claimed Gates shifted on climate change because he realized “we're not going to pay for this green climate change hoax.” She said, “We're not all going to die at the end of the day. So farmers can increase their herd share, I can eat more meat. I mean, all the things that Bill Gates said to the American people, he realized he was losing because we're not going to pay for this green climate change hoax. I also think he's listening to President Trump. It's about innovation and not more regulation.” Fox News, *Fox & Friends Weekend*, [11/2/25]

- Power The Future Founder and frequent right-wing media guest Daniel Turner wrote that Bill Gates’ “climate crusade was always a grift.” Twitter/X, [11/3/25; Media Matters, 5/8/24;

3/25/24]

## Climate scientists push back on Gates pitting poverty reduction against efforts to reduce carbon emissions

During a segment on CNN News Central, Bill Weir highlighted concerns from “the chorus of top climate scientists who spent the week trying to debunk the billionaire's confusing new message that rich cities will be immune from the worst effects and that technology can save us.”

Additionally, The Guardian pointed out that a number of climate scientists have criticized Gates for using “‘straw man’ arguments about the threat to humanity and ‘false dichotomies’ between spending on climate or aid for the poor.”

- In comments to NBC, Jeffrey Sachs, who leads Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Development, “called the memo ‘pointless, vague, unhelpful and confusing,'" adding that there’s “no reason to pit poverty reduction versus climate transformation.’" NBC, [10/28/25]

- Climate scientist Michael Mann has been outspoken about Gates’ memo, pointing out that it coincided with the landfall of the climate-driven Hurricane Melissa and that it was defended by former Fox News star Megyn Kelly. Mann also wrote a rebuttal of the memo in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, making the point that “Gates’ latest missive … plays like a game of climate change-diminishing bingo, drawing upon nearly every one of the tropes embraced by professional climate disinformers.” Twitter/X, [10/28/25, 10/29/25; The Bulletin, 10/31/25; The New York Times, 11/6/25]

- Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Los Angeles, said of the memo: “Despite agreeing with some points therein, I still think its framing is fundamentally flawed and thus also its key conclusions.” Twitter/X, [11/3/25]

- Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather wrote: “There are a lot of things I agree with in Bill Gates’ new memo on climate change. … But in other areas I feel that it needlessly sets up a conflict between laudable goals.” Hausfather said that “we can both mitigate emissions and alleviate poverty, disease, and hunger. While there are some tradeoffs it is more a question of policy priority than a zero sum game. Similarly, I feel that Gates is a bit too cavalier in his treatment of climate risk.” The Climate Brink, [11/5/25]

- Katherine Hayhoe, chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, also criticized Gates’ memo. She said, “‘I have not seen a single scientific paper that ever posited that the human race would become extinct … it’s a straw man, the way he’s proposing it.” The Guardian, [11/6/25]

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AN 8 25

Arizona, once a deep-red state that was synonymous with the late GOP Sen. Barry Goldwater's conservatism, showed how much of a swing state it has become when, in 2024, it favored Donald Trump over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the presidential election but chose liberal now-Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, over far-right MAGA Republican Kari Lake in a U.S. Senate race. Gallego's victory marked the second time she lost a statewide race in Arizona; she ran for governor in 2022 and lost to Democratic now-Gov. Katie Hobbs.

After losing two statewide races, Lake swore off running for public office again. But President Donald Trump chose her for a behind-the-scenes position, and she is now a special adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) — which oversees Voice of America.

Lake favors aggressive downsizing to USAGM, but according to the Phoenix New Times' TJ L'Heureux, her "mass firings have drawn legal challenges."

"Kari Lake is already the mortal enemy of facts," L'Heureux argues in an article published on August 16. "Now, she's also getting crosswise with the law. On Wednesday, (August 13), the Washington Post reported that Lake claimed in a court filing that she was just following Trump's orders when she put most of USAGM's 1300 employees and contractors on administrative leave — essentially paying them millions of dollars to do zero work. The Post also obtained documents showing congressional staffers for both Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham warned Lake via e-mail that she had violated the Anti-Deficiency Act by using congressionally approved funds to fire staff at Voice of America."

IFrame Content

L'Heureux adds, "Schatz himself then sent Lake a letter telling her that she was violating the law…. Notably, the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, has now opened an investigation into Lake over the issue. However, even if the GAO found wrongdoing, it seems unlikely a Trump-controlled Department of Justice would do anything about it."

L'Heureux notes that according to ethics lawyers, Lake's actions at USAGM are legally problematic.

"According to U.S. law," the Phoenix New Times journalist explains, "an acting agency CEO must have acted as principal deputy of the CEO before the vacancy arose, already been confirmed to another position by the Senate or have been a senior agency official for 90 days prior. It also appears that Trump did not officially appoint Lake to the role. Richard Painter, (President George W.) Bush's chief White House ethics lawyer, told NPR he doesn't think Lake qualifies for the title. As a result, he said, Lake's self-aggrandizement may create an opening for the many VOA journalists currently suing her."

*Read TJ L'Heureux's full Phoenix New Times article at this link.

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an 8 25

Former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is trying to shut down government-funded media outlets she was tapped to lead, but NPR reports challengers want her to define her job title before she does it.

"The government does not operate on the whims of a ‘Kari Lake’ or even of a ‘Donald Trump’," said Democracy Defenders Fund attorney Norman Eisen, who is representing press advocacy groups in lawsuits against Lake over her effort to shutter Voice of America. "If you have a role in government, it has to be defined and documented," Eisen told NPR. "Who knows if that's a self-anointed title? One way or the other, this raises the most profound legal questions."

NPR reports the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has recently called Lake its acting CEO, but Lake may not be legally eligible for the job. That question could hold weight considering a federal judge voided directives affecting asylum rules in 2020 after finding Trump's appointment of the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was unlawful.

NPR said it has “repeatedly asked the White House press office, Lake and another senior agency official” for documentation of Lake’s current role in the Trump administration, but has received no replies.

IFrame Content

"It's important to find out — is she really the CEO? How did she arrive there?" asked Grant Turner, who served as chief executive of USAGM during Trump's first term. "If she doesn't have that authority — and she's claiming to have the authority — then it's really just invalid. There's so many things that may come back to haunt Kari Lake and USAGM."

"Maybe she just wants to have a cool title to wave around," Turner says, "but if she really doesn't have true legal authority to have that title, then they're really just begging for problems."

Lake was a two-time unsuccessful MAGA candidate for senator and governor in Arizona before Trump announced his plan to appoint her director of Voice of America. The problem with that, said NPR, is federal law does not allow a president to unilaterally appoint a director over the agency. So Trump essentially dissolved the government advisory board set up by Congress to oversee Voice of America’s international networks and named Lake a “senior adviser” to run it.

The Atlantic reports Lake is now working to deport non-citizen Voice of America employees who hold J-1 visas.

Read the full NPR report at this link.

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omfg

mma

Kari Lake says Voice of America will push OAN content abroad. This is how network personalities discussed foreign policy since Trump took office.

Written by Jane Lee, Helena Hind & Isabella Corrao

Published 05/16/25

Trump adviser Kari Lake has announced that international broadcasting network Voice of America will include content from One America News Network, a pro-Trump propaganda network.

Since Donald Trump's inauguration, OAN personalities have pushed bizarre and inflammatory foreign policy commentary, including referring to Canada as “our vassal state,” calling Greenland ”the new Africa,” and pushing for a revival of “manifest destiny.” They’ve also run cover for Trump over his planned acceptance of a luxury jet from Qatar.

The Trump administration wants to feed content from OAN to Voice of America — after canceling contracts with existing wire services

- Kari Lake, senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, announced that the government-funded broadcaster would be fed content from One America News, a notoriously pro-Trump network.Lake announced that the agency will provide “newsfeed services” to Voice of America, and to the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and Radio Martí, which distribute news into Cuba. NPR, [4/22/25, 5/7/25; Washington Post, 5/7/25]

- Voice of America, an international broadcasting network, is funded by the federal government but required by law to maintain editorial independence. NPR writes: “The … networks deliver information to countries around the world that lack a robust or free press. The networks are intended to promote American democratic values by broadcasting news that models independent journalism, incorporates political debate and dissent even inside the U.S.” NPR, [4/22/25; Society of Professional Journalists, 3/17/25]

- The government agency that runs the Voice of America moved to terminate contracts with The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. The AP reported that VOA staffers were told to stop using wire service material for their reports. Associated Press, [3/14/25]

- After the 2020 election, OAN promoted false claims that the election had been stolen from Trump and was repeatedly sued for those claims, ultimately settling the suits.The network repeatedly accused Smartmatic, Dominion Voting Systems, and two Georgia election workers of helping rig the election, with Trump even recycling one of the election conspiracy theories it helped mainstream. The network was subsequently sued for defamation in separate lawsuits and has since reached settlements. Media Matters, [12/16/20, 12/22/20, 4/15/21; NPR, 5/7/25]

## What One America News personalities have said about foreign affairs in 2025 so far

- Discussing the challenges of next steps for the Gaza Strip, host Dan Ball said, “That’s why Trump says maybe we need to relocate everyone, Jordan or Egypt,” adding, “And then you rebuild it. … It’s going to look like a whole different world in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East after this is done.” One America News, *Real America with Dan Ball*, [2/17/25]

- Host Chanel Rion asked conservative commentator Josh Hammer, “Why the pushback to the idea that Gaza might get a little bit of an upgrade?” Rion and Hammer then praised an AI-generated video that Trump shared of Gaza redone with Trump resorts, calling it “absolutely hilarious” and “amazing.” Hammer finished his commentary by declaring, “Maybe America can actually finally make this right.” One America News, *Fine Point with Chanel Rion*, [2/27/25]

- OAN producer Cameron Malstrom said of the idea of the U.S. taking over the Panama Canal: “Trump also explained how we’ll be reclaiming what’s rightfully ours and hopefully expanding our borders.” One America News, *The Real Story with Riley Lewis*, [3/5/25]

- Rion praised Trump for telling Canadians their country can become the 51st state if they do not want to pay tariffs: “The magic of Trump is you’re not entirely sure if he’s pulling your leg or if he’s serious, and that’s where his negotiation power lies.” One America News, *Fine Point with Chanel Rion*, [3/21/25]

- Ball said “it wouldn’t be a bad idea” to “bring Greenland into the fold, …strategically for military reasons.” He questioned why “Denmark even wants to hold onto them,” adding: “It’s not like they care about it militarily like we do. … Is it more about their natural resources and that’s all they care about?” One America News, *Real America with Dan Ball*, [3/24/25]

- Ball argued that the annexation of Greenland would be “key for us moving forward” and criticized those who don’t “understand” Trump’s interest in taking over the country. “That's all I keep hearing is — it's just Trump wanting to be a king, wanting to be a dictator, take over somebody's land, steal some land like a good rich white guy from some native people in Greenland,” he said. One America News, *Real America with Dan Ball*, [3/28/25]

- Malstrom called for a revival of “manifest destiny” and praised Trump for “reinvigorating that expansionist spirit by renewing efforts to expand our borders once again and claim Greenland in the name of the United States." “Let's talk about why the United States acquiring Greenland is such a phenomenal idea,” Malstrom continued. “It wouldn't be just a land grab. It would be a masterstroke. … Just picture it as yet another beautiful U.S. state purchased, just like Alaska. Rugged individualism meets American might, with stunning fjords as a bonus." One America News, *The Real Story with Riley Lewis*, [3/29/25]

- Discussing Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Pituffik Space Base, a U.S. Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland, host Chris Boyle remarked, “We don’t even need to invade. Our military is in the country already." One America News, *Nights with Chris Boyle*, [3/30/25]

- OAN guest Stacy Washington claimed that “the people of Canada, especially the conservatives, wouldn’t mind being a part of the United States as a territory.” She also called Canada “our vassal state,” saying it is “already heavily subsidized by American taxpayers.” One America News, *Fine Point with Chanel Rion*, [4/30/25]

- Ball said of Trump talking about making Canada the 51st state: “Probably never going to happen, but you know what President Trump likes to do. He likes to troll.” One America News, *Real America with Dan Ball*, [5/6/25]

- Guest host Garrett Ziegler: “Greenland, in a way, is going to be looked at like the new Africa. … There's a ton of potential there." One America News, *Fine Point with Chanel Rion*, [5/9/25]

## One America News personalities also ran cover for Trump for accepting a plane from Qatar

- In response to criticism of Trump for potentially accepting a plane from Qatar, Ball said, “How can they raise holy heck about this and lose their ever-loving minds when it hasn’t even happened yet? When for years, the media and Democrats ignored all the corruption allegations — forget allegations — the freaking proof of the Joe Biden crime family?” Guest Seamus Bruner argued that if Qatar ultimately did gift the plane, “it would be a gift to the American taxpayers to save us money, not to Donald Trump.” Ball then excused the gift because “Trump’s over there bringing billions.” One America News, *Real America with Dan Ball*, [5/14/25]

- Rion said of the plane gift: “The last time I heard the Democrats protesting over Democrat gifts given to the Biden family in secret, let's see, was never. I don't remember the last time they were criticizing the diamonds and the cars that the Chinese were giving to the Biden family under the table.”Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) admitted that the gift “does break traditional … precedents” and could be a security risk, but “the president seems to be happy with it.” One America News, *Fine Point with Chanel Rion*, [5/14/25]

- Rion framed Trump accepting a plane from Qatar as him “gaining and draining power” from the Qataris, claiming the plane is a “meaningless peace offering” given out of fear. Rion argued, “As the Qataris hand over the keys to the 747 or forklift or whatever meaningless peace offering it is, look closely at the Qatari hands. They will be trembling. And Trump will take those keys with a smile.” One America News, *Fine Point with Chanel Rion*, [5/13/25]

- OnFine Point with Chanel Rion, guest Daniel Turner downplayed Trump accepting the plane as a gift: “If Donald Trump wanted a $400 million plane, he could buy one, right? I mean, the guy is worth $5 billion. … When you're someone like Donald Trump, like, that's not really a bribable amount.”He added, “The president isn’t taking it in his capacity — in his personal capacity.” One America News, *Fine Point with Chanel Rion*, [5/13/25]

- :{:{Host Matt Gaetz said: “While Democrat lawmakers sob over President Trump's shiny new jet and spar with ICE officers, Trump is reestablishing the United States on the world stage and delivering peace and prosperity around the globe.”}: One America News, *The Matt Gaetz Show*, [5/14/25]

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an 525

Far-right MAGA conspiracy theorist Kari Lake was both disappointed and happy following the 2024 election — disappointed because she lost Arizona's U.S. Senate race to now-Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), happy because Donald Trump was elected president instead of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. And Trump offered Lake a position, appointing her senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) — which supervises Voice of America (VOA) and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting as well as Radio Free Europe.

Now, according to Lake, VOA is partnering with One America News (OAN) — a far-right cable news outlet that, like Newsmax, prides itself on being to the right of Fox News and Fox News and considers itself more pro-Trump than those channels.

OAN is known for promoting conspiracy theories: After Trump lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, OAN pushed the false and repeatedly debunked claim that the election was stolen from him.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, May 6, Lake wrote, "United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is excited to announce a partnership with One America News Network (OAN) to provide newsfeed services to USAGM networks, including Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Radio Martí, and Voice of America (VOA)….. This is an enormous benefit to the American taxpayer, who is the sole-source of funding for USAGM's news outlets, which broadcast only to international audiences."

IFrame Content

Lake added, "In my current role as Senior Advisor to USAGM, I don't have editorial control over the content of VOA and OCB programming, but I can ensure our outlets have reliable and credible options as they work to craft their reporting and news programs."

Lake's announcement is receiving a lot of reactions on X.

MeidasTouch's Ron Filipkowski tweeted, "Sure, why not wreck another great American institution that has been a beacon of light around the world for decades and replace it MAGA’s North Korean style media."

Awful Announcing's Ben Koo posted, "Absolutely brutal. VOA's reach is a very impressive ~330 million people a week. Outsourcing this content to OAN via an assist from Kari Lake..... just a really tough one to swallow. I recommend the 60 Minutes piece on VOA (available on Youtube) if unfamiliar."

RussOnPolitics' Russell Drew wrote, "Kari Lake turning Voice of America into a pro-Trump propaganda machine by piping in OAN content is insanity. VOA was meant to represent American values abroad — not far-right disinformation. This is how democracies rot from the inside. A nightmare move by a nightmare figure."

X user John Sellers wrote, "Goebbels lives."

Another X user, Harold Gallagher, posted, "Lake is unfit and unqualified. Bonafide Fox News Trash."

X user Julio Cesar wrote, "A former weather girl turned fascist grifter who spreads insane QAnon propaganda running VOA. What could possibly go wrong?"

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rww 4 25 sorta random grab

04/08/2025

Kyle Mantyla

Christian nationalist Jesse Leon Rogers has plans to "plant a City Elders council in every county of the nation within a ten year period of time."

Seth Gruber spent half of his latest podcast claiming that Adolf Hitler was "a massive leftist" and that the Nazi Party was started and controlled by "known homosexuals," predictably citing works by virulently anti-LGBTQ right-wing activists like Judith Reisman and Scott Lively as "evidence."

Christian nationalist pseudo-historian Tim Barton reports that he "has a meeting at the White House" today.

Eric Metaxas responds to the crash of the stock market brought on by Trump's tariffs: "It makes me happy."

Finally, Kari Lake declares that had President Donald Trump not won the 2024 election, the nation would be been plunged into "decades of despair."

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RWW

02/21/2025

Kari Lake’s appearance at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference is a concise case study in how thoroughly the MAGA movement depends on right-wing media to spread its lies, all while proclaiming a devotion to the truth.

Lake is an Arizona MAGA activist and failed candidate for governor and U.S. Senate. In December, President Donald Trump announced that he wants her to lead the Voice of America, a global news agency funded by the federal government.

At CPAC on Friday, Lake praised “Elon and the boys” for the work being carried out by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Lake claimed that DOGE has exposed that the government has been paying “social security benefits to 150 year-olds…and apparently there’s millions of them.”

That’s false.

Lake was amplifying a bogus claim that Elon Musk made at his Oval Office press conference a week earlier. “While no evidence was produced to back up this claim, it was picked up by right-wing commentators online, primarily on Musk’s own X platform, as well as being reported credibly by pro-Trump media outlets,” noted WIRED magazine’s David Gilbert.

Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News viewers Monday that “Elon Musk and the DOGE team” hadn’t “dug into the books,” but said “they suspect there are tens of millions of deceased people who are receiving fraudulent social security payments.”

The next day, Trump himself repeated the claims about “millions and millions” of people over 100 years old fraudulently collecting benefits.

According to business journalist James Surowiecki, “It’s not just false, it’s absurd.”

As Gilbert and other journalists have explained, Musk’s claims may have been based on his young operatives’ unfamiliarity with older computer languages, or their ignorance of safeguards currently in place that automatically prevent such payments.

Or maybe it’s just made up to justify cuts to Social Security, the way the administration is using bogus fraud claims to justify mass firings and drastic cuts to scientific research, national parks, humanitarian assistance, and more.

DOGE claims don’t add up, but Lake claimed they had uncovered “the biggest fraud ever perpetuated on humanity.”

While promoting false claims about Social Security, Lake railed against the mainstream media. She complained about the Associated Press, which has been denied access to White House events for refusing to give in to Trump’s demands that they call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. “They’re criminal, they are,” said Lake, complaining about “fake journalists” who refused to recognize the “impossibility” of Biden’s 2020 popular vote total.

Lake gloated about the movement’s success at convincing MAGA supporters to rely on right-wing outlets for their news, saying “We rendered the fake news worthless and useless.”

Lake may be hoping that her praise of DOGE will change Musk’s declaration that the VOA should be shut down. She said at CPAC she understands why some people might want to close down the VOA, but that it is “soft power” for the U.S. and “worth trying to save.” She promised, unconvincingly, that under her leadership VOA “won’t become Trump TV.”

“We are fighting an information war and there’s no better weapon than the truth,” she said.

Lake, a former TV journalist, made unsuccessful runs for governor of Arizona in 2022 and U.S. Senate in 2024. She refused to concede her 2022 loss and waged a long and unsuccessful legal battle to overturn the results. Last year, she settled a defamation suit brought against her by a local election official she falsely blamed for her defeat. She continues to back Trump’s claims about the 2020 election.

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'Unhinged' Kari Lake clashes with former GOP strategist at MAGA event

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mma 12 24

Donald Trump's pick to lead the federal government's international news agency is an unhinged conspiracy theorist who lashes out at the press, hobnobs with far-right and antisemitic extremist outlets, and has criticized Fox News as “a globalist network.”

Trump announced Wednesday that he wants Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor who was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and governor in Arizona over the last two election cycles, to serve as the director of the Voice of America in his next administration. VOA claims a weekly international audience of more than 350 million people across TV, radio, and digital platforms; U.S. officials say it promotes democratic values, including the free press, and serves as a counterweight to foreign propaganda.

It’s unclear whether Lake will ever actually ascend to the VOA post. It is unusual for a president to name someone for the position and there are statutory and bureaucratic guardrails that could stall or prevent her installation, as CNN’s Brian Stelter noted.

But Trump’s selection of Lake — who he asserted will “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media” — is a nakedly partisan assault on journalistic values that demonstrates the level of fealty he expects from the press.

Lake’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign was a Fox-fueled fever dream. An obsequious backer of Trump and supporter of his election fraud lies, she campaigned alongside MAGA extremists and drew support from figures linked to QAnon and white nationalism.

She habitually attacked reporters during the campaign, describing them as “the right hand of the devil” and running an ad in which she said “it’s time to take a sledgehammer to the mainstream media’s lies and propaganda” before smashing several televisions depicting cable news hosts, whom she accused of following “a communist playbook.” On Election Day, she promised journalists that after she won, she would “be your worst fricking nightmare.”

IFrame Content

Lake lost. But in true Trumpian fashion, she spent the next two years claiming the governorship had been stolen from her, even as courts savaged her complaints.

As she prepared to run for Senate (even as she claimed to be Arizona’s rightfully elected governor), Lake expanded her attacks on the press to Fox itself. “Fox has proven that they are a globalist network,” she said on its competitor Newsmax in July 2023, adding that Fox supported the “uni-party swamp.” Speaking at this year’s Republican National Convention, she continued to go after the “fake news” for “lying about President Donald Trump and his amazing patriotic supporters.”

What type of media does Lake prefer? She is a friend and supporter of Laura Loomer, the deranged pro-Trump sycophant; praises the “massive following” of a QAnon show; embraces antisemitic streamers who sympathize with Nazis and claim that Jews are “taking over the world,” control the media, and “control us”; and cozies up to Brenden Dilley, the far-right podcaster who heads Trump’s “meme team.”

Lake would replace the journalist Michael Abramowitz if she actually becomes head of VOA. Abramowitz previously served as head of Freedom House, a nonprofit organization that supports journalists and human rights advocates, after more than two decades at The Washington Post. But Trump wants U.S. journalists pumping out propaganda, and Lake represents his bid to get it.

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old 2x? Why Kari Lake has become a major liability for the GOP: conservative - Alternet.org

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troll nation

mma

Steve Bannon praises Trump's pick of Kari Lake to lead Voice of America: “Edward R. Murrow, you're stepping into his shoes”

12/12/24 11:58 AM EST

### Kari Lake, Trump’s VOA pick, hates the “fake news” — and called Fox a “globalist network”

12/12/24

### Benny Johnson says he texted Kari Lake a suggested lineup for Voice for America: “She loved it”

12/12/24

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'When she is already governor and senator?': Kari Lake mocked over possible ambassador nom

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Democrats may have lost the White House and their U.S. Senate majority, but one silver lining is that in nearly every battleground state, Republicans lost close Senate races.

According to USA TODAY, almost all of the Senate races in the states that decided the Electoral College majority — like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — broke for Democrats. The lone exception is Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania), with the Associated Press (AP) calling the race for Republican Dave McCormick. This may change, however, as NBC News has yet to call the race and Casey has yet to officially concede. With 126,000 more votes that have yet to be counted, Casey is only behind McCormick by 41,000 ballots.

While the AP has yet to call the Arizona Senate race, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) currently leads Republican Kari Lake by roughly 30,000 votes. There are roughly 622,000 more outstanding ballots remaining. The bulk of those votes are in reliably Democratic Maricopa County, which houses Phoenix.

Some of the marquee Senate races that ended up in Democrats' favor include Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) defeating former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) in the Mitten State, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) winning a third six-year term over Republican businessman Eric Hovde in the Badger State and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) prevailing over Republican Sam Brown.

While red-state Democrats like Sens. Sherrod Brown (R-Ohio) and Jon Tester (D-Montana) lost their reelection battles, they still outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris by eight percentage points and 13 percentage points, respectively. And control of the House of Representatives still has yet to be determined, with neither party currently clinching the 218 seats needed for a majority in the lower chamber of Congress.

Democrats' strong performance in down-ballot races is particularly surprising given that President-elect Donald Trump swept Vice President Kamala Harris in almost all of those states (Arizona ballots are still being counted, but Trump is ahead). USA TODAY reported that even though Senate races are for federal office, voters often split tickets as they feel more personally connected to Senate candidates given their strong relationship with their home states.

"[V]oters in some places are making real distinctions to say this is not somebody who is aligned with Trump or represents him in the same way, or this is someone who has the state’s interest in mind in a way that other candidates don’t,” University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden told the paper. “And that really is a different story from one state to the next.”

Democratic Senate candidates' success could also be chalked up to candidates staking out their own positions independent from President Joe Biden, whose popularity rating has been underwater for several years. While Gallego touted his positions on border security, Slotkin emphasized her pro-manufacturing industry positions, Rosen talked up her work with Republicans to improve Nevada's infrastructure and Baldwin embraced Wisconsin's farmers.

"[Swing state voters are] much more responsive to who the individuals are and to their performance in office and much less susceptible to the Washington style of defining politics," Burden said. He described voters who split their tickets between both parties as "more casual voters," though he observed that "they end up being the ones who make a big difference."

Click here to read USA TODAY's article in its entirety.

READ MORE:[Kari Lake gave election-denying speech in front of Confederate flag

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Kari Lake gave election-denying speech in front of Confederate flag

Mitch McConnell’s PAC throws Kari Lake under the bus

AN 10 24

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Wayne Allyn Root and Kari Lake push conspiracy theory that opponent’s campaign is funded by “the Mexican drug cartel”

10/23/24 MMA

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mma 8 24

In the midst of a key U.S. Senate race, right-wing commentator and Republican nominee Kari Lake is spending her time praising and interacting with far-right trolls, extremists, and misogynists. The recipients of her attention have viciously attacked Gov. Tim Walz’s son, claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris is a “hoe” who dances “like a hood rat,” called Tim Walz an anti-LGBTQ slur, and said women are “too mouthy.”

Lake is running for Senate in Arizona, where she previously lost a 2022 race for governor. (The election denier has contested those results even while running for her current race.) Lake has spent a significant amount of her political career attempting to appeal to extremist elements of the media, including interacting with QAnon and antisemitic figures.

In the past few weeks, Lake has continued to cultivate and maintain the support of extremist commentators. Here are four examples of Lake’s recent interactions.

Brenden Dilley frequently traffics in conspiracy theories and misogynistic, discriminatory, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. In a representative remark, Dilley said he wished that women would “focus on their pretty dresses and their house and their children and making me sexually satisfied all the time, and food.” On August 22, he viciously attacked Tim Walz’s son Gus.

Lake is a supporter and “friend” of Dilley, who regularly promotes her online. After Dilley made a video supporting her, Lake replied on August 23 (just a day after Dilley launched his attack on Gus Walz): “That was so awesome! Thanks for the song and video. And thank you for your friendship. MAGA!!!”

Laura Loomer has described herself as a “proud Islamophobe” who is “pro-white nationalism.” She has a long history of horrific and bigoted remarks, including celebrating the death of migrants and saying “nobody cares” after the 2019 mass murder of 51 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand. Loomer has recently called Harris an ableist slur, falsely claimed she is not Black, and said she’s a “hoe” who dances “like a hood rat.”

Lake is a friend and ally of Loomer. After Loomer wished her happy birthday and posted a picture of her with Lake, the Republican responded on August 23: “Thank you, Laura [heart emoji].”

Roger Stone is a notorious trickster who was convicted of numerous felonies and had his sentence commuted by then-President Donald Trump. He is a proponent of political retribution, including recently saying that Trump’s political opponents will be arrested if Trump wins. (Stone has also recently said that Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is “going to prison.”) He regularly employs hateful rhetoric and recently called Gov. Tim Walz a “f-----.”

Lake is a friend and ally of Stone. On August 27, Lake posted a picture of her with Stone and wrote: “Happy birthday to my friend—political legend ⁦⁦@RogerJStoneJr⁩! Wish we were together toasting you on your birthday. May your year ahead be epic!”

Royce White is a Steve Bannon acolyte who has pushed conspiracy theories about 9/11, the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, the tragic Maui wildfires, and the 2020 election. He also has a history of using slurs and pejoratives to attack people. He has said that “women have become too mouthy” and stated that Republicans who seek out the votes of suburban women are “losers” with a “cucked mentality.”

White is now the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota. After he won his primary, Lake wrote on August 14: “So incredibly proud of you. You have done this with no support from the powerbrokers, but all of the support of the Minnesota grassroots. That is admirable! I know you will represent Minnesota well in the United States Senate. Let’s beat Amy Klobuchar and deliver Senator Royce White for the good people of Minnesota.”

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trump elbowed her off stage? 8 24?

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7 24 kari lake beats sheriff mark lamb in primary and

A Republican election official who has been overseeing the voting process in Arizona's most populous county for the last four years was just voted out in Tuesday night's GOP primary.

The Associated Press called the race Wednesday morning, with Republican state representative Justin Heap in a comfortable lead over incumbent Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. Don Hiatt, another GOP challenger, placed third. According to NBC News, Heap had the backing of MAGA aligned GOP Senate nominee Kari Lake, who continues to insist that former President Donald Trump was the true winner of the 2020 election. She has also refused to acknowledge her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial election, in which Democrat Katie Hobbs won by roughly 17,000 votes statewide.

"I am endorsing Justin Heap for the Maricopa County recorder because we want honest elections,” said Lake last month. “We need a heap of honesty in our elections.”

After the GOP primary results were announced, both moderate conservatives and independents mourned Richer's loss. 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang tweeted that Richer losing the primary was a "terrible sign for the AZ Republican Party," and noted that he "stood up for election integrity despite threats and attacks."

"Much love and gratitude to Stephen Richer and the rest who took abuse for doing their jobs with integrity in Maricopa County," tweeted Bulwark podcast host Tim Miller.

Richer was an outlier in the modern Republican Party, given his commitment to overseeing fair elections and not trafficking in election conspiracies in the midst of threats from the MAGA faction of the GOP. Maricopa County Republican Party vice chair Shelby Busch said in June that she would "lynch" Richer, and refused to walk back the comment, saying it was made "in jest." Richer condemned Busch for the remark in an interview with AZFamily.com.

“If lynching is in your vocabulary you need to have a heart to heart with yourself,” Richer said. “That shouldn’t be in your vocabulary given the history of that term and it shouldn’t be on your vocabulary to say about anyone you with whom you disagree.”

In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) after his loss was announced, Richer pledged to use the remaining few months in his position to ensure that either Heap or Democratic nominee Timothy Stringham would be able to have a smooth transition into their new role. He added that he would work to "ensure the continued efficient and lawful execution of my duties in recording, voter registration, and mail voting."

"Elections have winners and, sadly, losers. And in this one, it looks like I'm going to end up on the losing side of the column," Richer tweeted. "But that's the name of the game. Accept it. Move on."

Click here to read NBC's report in full.

READ MORE:['Chaos': GOP officials in AZ county cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands in election fights

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CNN and NBC News are projecting a winner in the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona between MAGA Donald Trump-ally Kari Lake and her far-right opponent Mark Lamb.

Both outlets projected Lake as be the winner Tuesday night.

Trump hedged in his endorsement of Republican congressional candidates Abraham Hamadeh and Blake Masters, who are running for a safe Democratic seat.

Trump issued a very early endorsement of Lake for the Senate race against Pinal County Sheriff Lamb. He campaigned by running to her right.

On the day before the election, Trump echoed his endorsement, saying, “She’s fearless when it comes to being a champion for the common-sense, America-first policies. Kari will vote to seal the border. We’re going to seal that border. It will stop them immediately, and that will stop, in turn, the invasion, the largest invasion in the history of probably any country. There’s never been anything like it.”

In the latest numbers from Noble Predictive Insight (NPI), taken July 22-23, Lake had a net favorability of +12 against Lamb, who was at 38 percent.

Lake is an avid 2020 election denier who failed in her 2022 gubernatorial pursuits and protested that result as well. Lamb spent most of the race claiming that Lake couldn't win a general election and, thus, voters should cast a ballot for him.

Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego will appear on the Democratic side of the general election to replace outgoing Sen. Krysten Sinema.

An Emerson College poll taken around the same time as the GOP primary poll shows that Gallego is ahead of Lake by four points (46 percent to 42 percent).

"Lake looks promising in overcoming the first challenge in the Senate race—winning the primary—but she'll have to shape her general election strategy to capture the key voter blocs she's currently struggling with to compete with the Democratic candidate," NPI founder and CEO Mike Noble, said in a written statement. an 7 24

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an appellate court yet again declared that Democrat Katie Hobbs is the rightful governor of Arizona as it rejected Republican Kari Lake’s latest challenge to her 2022 election loss, unanimously backing the lower court's decisions.

In Judge Sean Brearcliffe's 23-page opinion, he surgically explained the various reasons why Lake's appeal efforts came up short.

"The court did not ignore the evidence Lake offered; Lake’s expert’s methodology was contradicted at trial by election officials put forward by Hobbs," the papers say. "In the court’s ruling, it specifically weighed Lake’s evidence against testimony offered by election officials ,and found that the election officials’ testimony―that meaningful verification had occurred―was more credible."

He concluded that the "substantial evidence" secured the favorable result to Hobbs because "we cannot say the trial court’s determination was clearly erroneous."

One of the arguments that Lake and her supporters have tried to peddle is blaming Maricopa County Co-Elections Director Scott Jarrett for being untruthful about the printer issues that affected some of the 2022 Voting Centers on Election Day, according to AZ Law.

ALSO READ:'Most powerful thing': Witness details Trump's last moments before 'shocking' verdict

The Court of Appeals analyzed it and determined: "At best, this is a misunderstanding between an attorney and a witness that was ironed-out during a trial."

Lake, a MAGA loyal Republican who is campaigning to win a U.S. Senate seat, filed her initial election challenge in December 2022 after she was bested in the governor’s race by Democrat Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes.

The candidate never conceded to Hobbs and protested that the election was stolen, despite her claims failing to convince judges in December 2022 and May 2023 trials, as well as multiple appeals in between the two.

And yet whatever setback legally, Lake has stayed defiant, and continue to preach that the election was somehow compromised.

“Everything I’ve ever said about the elections is true and I stand by it,” Lake said in March.

Lake's critics on Twitter were quick to relish her latest defeat.

"Waste of tax payers money," writes @resist_xrp_user.

One created a composite of Lake up in age with grey hair, circa 2050 and still fighting to overturn the 2020 election. Another mockup of a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor called "Kari Lake Lost" featuring "salty MAGA tears" and "big chunks of election denial."

"When Kari Lake loses either in her primary or in the general will she pursue a claim to be the 'real' senator from Arizona," asks @marysjogren1.

Debby Williams appeared to indulge on the defeat in court for Lake. "Another loss for Kari Lake!"

"How many times has Hobbs won the election now," reads a post by @gatesisthedevil. "I’ve lost count."

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msnbc says out of veepstakes?

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Lake gave election-denying speech in front of Confederate flag

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former Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate and 2024 Senate hopeful Kari Lake's lawyers were sanctioned last May to pay $2,000 by the Arizona Supreme Court for making "'unequivocally false' claims that 35,000 falsified ballots were accepted by Maricopa County during the 2022 midterm election.

Arizona Mirror reports that Brian Blehm — one of the two sanctioned lawyers — failed to attend a Tuesday, May 21 disciplinary hearing that could've left him without a law license.

Blehm, according to AZ Mirror, instead gave the Arizona State Bar "a middle finger."

Per the report, the state "Supreme Court found that Olsen and Blehm provided no evidence of the claim and sanctioned Lake and her team for making 'false factual statements to the Court.'"

State Bar of Arizona attorneys told the judge Tuesday "that Blehm’s license should be suspended for six months and one day for lying to the Supreme Court, as well as for his refusal to take responsibility for his actions and to even show up for the hearing."

AZ Mirror reports:

*[Presiding Disciplinary Judge Margaret] Downie asked the State Bar attorneys to justify such a lengthy proposed suspension, and she contrasted it with the punishment given earlier this year to election attorney and Republican State Rep. Alexander Kolodin, who was only put on probation for his role in lawsuits challenging the 2020 election. Among other things, Kolodin was an attorney on the infamous 'kraken' lawsuit that made implausible and evidence-free claims of massive election fraud.

[Senior Counsel for the Bar Hunter] Perlmeter answered that, unlike Blehm, Kolodin was never accused of lying to the courts and that he was credited for having a cooperative attitude throughout the disciplinary proceedings.*

*Kolodin also voluntarily entered into an agreement with the Bar, under which he accepted being put on probation, paid a fine and agreed to participate in continuing legal education ethics courses.

Ahead of the May 21 hearing, the report notes instead of notifying the court that he planned to be absent, "on Sunday evening, Blehm sent an email to the State Bar of Arizona, informing them that he needed to 'depart for Colorado' on Monday and wouldn’t be able to attend in person. Blehm did not inform the court directly through the email address that he was told to use for correspondence regarding the case, but instead copied a court employee who is currently on leave."

Blehm posted a video via X (formerly Twitter) just a couple of hours after the hearing "saying he couldn’t make the hearing and was on his way to take care of some personal business."

The attorney claimed the State Bar was trying to 'isolate the most active MAGA attorney in the State of Arizona during the entirety of the 2024 election."

Claiming the State Bar "was attempting to disbar him," the report notes that "Perlmeter insisted in the hearing that the claim was a lie, and while it isn’t technically true, the way the suspension is structured could allow it to be much longer than just six months — and possibly permanent."

According to Robert McWhirter, a Phoenix criminal and constitutional attorney, "a suspension of six months and one day carried with it much more severe consequences than a suspension of only six months. After a suspension of six months or less, an attorney’s license is reinstated automatically."

READ MORE:[McConnell says GOP shouldn’t 'get too excited' about chances of winning Senate

*Arizona Mirror's full report is available here.

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Lake, the far-right MAGA Republican who is likely to be running against liberal Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in Arizona's 2024 U.S. Senate race, has recently been trying to soften her image.

Lake criticized the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling in favor of a draconian anti-abortion law from 1864 — only to later tell the Idaho Dispatch that "unfortunately," Arizona Democrats weren't enforcing the law. And Lake has claimed that she was speaking "in jest" when she told "McCain Republicans" to "get the hell out" of a Republican event.

Conservative GOP activist Meghan McCain, however, wasn't buying it and tweeted, on February 21, "No peace, b****." And other Lake critics argued that she is as dangerous as ever when, during an April event, Lake told the crowd, "We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case."

One of those critics is Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona).

During a Sunday, May 5 appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Kelly told host Kristen Welker, "It's dangerous. What Kari Lake said could result in people getting hurt or killed."

Lake has falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump in her state, and that Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial election was stolen from her. Both claims have been repeatedly debunked.

Kelly said he is "very concerned" that MAGA election denialists in Arizona will try to overturn the 2024 election results.

The Democratic senator told Welker, "We have Kari Lake on the ballot in the Senate race, who is also talking about how the 2020 election was stolen here from Donald Trump. Clearly wasn't. Same thing in 2022 when she ran for governor."

Kelly continued, "She's on the ballot again. These folks have been indicted. I trust our judicial system, that they're going to go through a process. And however this turns out, we all have to accept what that process is."

READ MORE:[Haley staffer references Meghan McCain in jab at Kari Lake

*Watch the video below or at this link.

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'I’m not suicidal': Kari Lake pushes Hillary Clinton murder conspiracy theory - Alternet.org

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u.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake has been cultivating the support of far-right commentator Laura Loomer, who has described herself as a “proud Islamophobe,” said she is “pro-white nationalism,” and celebrated the death of thousands of migrants.

Lake has praised Loomer as “a true warrior,” told her “Trump loves you and appreciates you and so do I,” and promoted her attacks on election officials, including against a Republican who has sued Lake for defamation.

Lake’s friendship with Loomer appears to be paying dividends, as the far-right commentator frequently praises the Arizona Republican to her followers and attacks Lake’s perceived opponents.

On April 3, Lake held a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Loomer attended the fundraiser and promoted it on social media, writing: “Kari Lake has become a dear friend over the last 2 years, and she has my complete support and endorsement. I encourage all of my supporters to donate to her campaign. I will be donating to her campaign. If you would like to attend this fundraiser, you can RSVP here.”

After the fundraiser, Loomer posted a picture of herself with Lake and again encouraged people to donate to her campaign. Lake responded: “Thank you, Laura. And thank you for being an incredible investigative journalist. President Trump loves you and appreciates you and so do I.”

Loomer is a twice-failed Republican congressional candidate and conspiracy theorist who hosts a show on Rumble. The following is a brief history of her bigotry:

During a 2017 podcast, Loomer said: “I totally support ethnonationalism. Someone asked me ‘Are you pro-white nationalism?’ Yes. I’m pro-white nationalism.”
Loomer described herself as a “proud Islamophobe” and wrote: “I never want another Muslim entering this country EVER AGAIN!” She has also called Muslims “savages” who “ruin everything.”
In response to a July 2017 headline that “over 2,000 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year,” Loomer tweeted: “Good. [clapping emoji] Here's to 2,000 more.” Hundreds of children had already died in the Mediterranean that year when Loomer made that remark. (In 2023, the U.N. wrote that “since 2018, UNICEF estimates around 1,500 children have died or gone missing while attempting the Central Mediterranean Sea crossing. This number accounts for 1 in 5 of the 8,274 people who have died or gone missing on the route, according to IOM’s Missing Migrant Project records.”)
Loomer wrote of the 2019 mass murder of 51 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand: “Nobody cares about Christchurch. I especially don’t.”
In March, Loomer said of anti-immigrant vigilante violence: “Someone's gonna snap. It's gonna happen. And you know what? I'm not gonna care when it happens. You know why? Because there's only so much people can take.”
Loomer has said that she wants Palestinian Americans purged from the government.
During a discussion attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and her constituents, Loomer said that she believes in “IQ science” and claimed that “some of the people that have the lowest IQs are Somalis.”
Loomer was banned from Uber and Lyft after she posted online that she didn’t want to be driven by Muslims.

Lake has endorsed and courted extremists during her relatively short political career, making her friendship with Loomer a natural alliance.

Lake posted a picture of herself with Loomer in January and wrote: “Ran into this Warrior in Iowa tonight. America First all the way!”
Last August, Loomer shared another photo of the two together and wrote, “Happy Birthday to the BEAUTIFUL AND FABULOUS ⁦@KariLake. I hope your birthday is as fabulous as you are, Kari!!! Love you!” Lake replied: “Thank you!”
After Loomer wrote that Lake impressed her as a candidate, the Arizona Republican responded: “Thank you, @LauraLoomer. You love America as much as @realDonaldTrump and me.”
In July, Loomer and Lake met at a book signing in Florida, with Lake telling her afterward: “Great to see you today.”
Lake, who is a prominent election denier, thanked Loomer after she praised the candidate for purportedly “fighting for election integrity!”
In February 2023, Loomer said she met with Lake and hopes Trump picks her to be his vice president. Lake replied: “You are too kind. Thank you, Laura. It was great to catch up. You are a true warrior.”
This February, Lake promoted Loomer’s post alleging that “violent gangs in Venezuela” are headed to the U.S. border. She also responded to a post saying Loomer was going to the Darién Gap in Panama: “The Darien Gap is about to get Loomered.”

In May 2023, Lake promoted a Rumble video by Loomer claiming that election officials, including from Arizona, would be participating in a conference in Washington, D.C., “and it's a sign that the theft of the 2020 election is about to replicate itself as we head into the 2024 presidential election season.” The “Kari Lake War Room” account also promoted Loomer and told her: “Phenomenal reporting.”

That Lake-promoted Loomer video included an attack on Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County recorder in Arizona who sued Lake for defamation after she claimed he helped rig the 2020 election against her. Lake has declined to defend herself in the case.

Loomer has repeatedly attacked Richer in other instances.

Last May, Loomer mocked Richer after he said “he now has to take blood pressure medicine because of some of the people we now have to deal with (ie, those suspicious of election outcomes).”
Loomer quoted a post by Lake attacking Richer and wrote: “Stephen Richer, another crooked Maricopa County election official, is also set to attend the secret election summit hosted by CEIR in Washington DC on May 8-9 that I exposed in an exclusive report.”
Loomer encouraged her followers to file complaints to the State Bar of Arizona about supposed misconduct by Richer.

Loomer has also called for Democratic secretaries of state to be imprisoned. She has attacked Arizona Democrat Adrian Fontes as a “radical Leftist Secretary of State” and “confronted him” at the D.C. conference.

Last November, Donald Trump Jr. said that he would like to see Loomer serve as White House press secretary should his father win the presidency. (Loomer said she would accept.)

The former president is also apparently a fan of Loomer. She has said that “every time President Trump sees me, he always says, ‘You're so smart. I love your site so much. You're so intelligent. I love your articles,’” and additionally stated that Trump supposedly told her that “I read your website every day.” (Trump’s reliance on Loomer has repeatedly spurred him to attack judges who oversee his cases.)

Trump also shouted out Loomer during Lake’s fundraiser, saying: “That’s a woman with courage. You don’t want to be Loomered. If you’re Loomered, you’re in deep trouble. That’s the end of your career, in a sense.”

Loomer regularly hosts Republican officials on her Rumble program, including Sen. J.D Vance (R-OH), Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Cory Mills (R-FL), Republican National Committee member Sigal Chattah, and Colorado GOP head Dave Williams. Trump senior adviser Jason Miller has appeared on Loomer’s program and praised her as “the best.” Miller is also an adviser for Lake.

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“I will not feed a demon,” Ruby Franke told her son. The former YouTube influencer starved, kicked and bound the 12-year-old, and twisted him into stress positions. When the boy’s restraints lacerated his flesh, Franke rubbed honey and cayenne pepper into the wounds and let them suppurate until the whole house stank.

Franke pled guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. This week prosecutors released the underlying evidence in her case, including a diary in which she records the degradation of her children in meticulous detail and justifies it in the name of exorcism.

Franke believed that her children were possessed by demons that could only be cast out by horrific abuse and neglect. There are many similarities between Franke’s case and that of Lori Vallow, a cult leader who orchestrated the murder of her two children, her lover’s wife, (and probably her ex-husband,) and justified the slaughter by claiming her victims were possessed.

There’s no indication that Franke or Vallow had a partisan political agenda, but demonization is becoming a partisan political problem in its own right.

As Donald Trump seeks a second term, more and more high-profile Republicans are literally demonizing their political opponents. The candidate kicked off his reelection campaign in apocalyptic terms promising to be his voters retribution in the “final battle,” implicitly likening himself to a returned Christ in the final battle against the Antichrist.

Trump confidante Roger Stone claims to have seen a swirling demonic portal over Joe Biden’s White House. Trump strategist Steve Bannon has been railing about spiritual warfare and Democratic demons since at least 2021, according to an analysis by Media Matters.

Earlier this month, Republican senatorial hopeful and supreme Trump toady Kari Lake blamed demons for stealing the 2020 election. “We have to continue fighting. The devil is working. Evil is working. Those stolen [2020 and 2022] elections were meant to make us feel like we have been beat down and there's no hope,” Lake told a podcaster.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba tried to deflect criticism of her dismal courtroom performance by blaming Trump’s legal woes on demons.

You might think this is just the usual overheated sulfurous political rhetoric. After all, demons can be a potent metaphor for everything from the psychological problems of rock stars to the laws of thermodynamics. It’s hard for secular folks (or even worldly Christians) to relate to those who explain mundane events in terms of demons, but just because we can’t relate doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

Last week, Republican operative Charlie Kirk was babbling about Haiti being demonically possessed. “Haiti is legitimately infested with demonic voodoo” that allows practitioners to do “quasi-levitation stuff,” Kirk proclaimed. And furthermore, Kirk continued, he knows a guy who knows some guys who say Haitians turn into cats at night. Kirk also claims that witches made him sick in Albuquerque. When Fox News host Jesse Watters accused a Trump grand jury foreperson of witchcraft, Kirk amplified his charges.

Since the 1980s, growing numbers of Americans have embraced the idea of “spiritual warfare” against demons, which they believe to play active roles in politics and everyday life.

The fastest growing and most influential contingent of demon-believers is found in independent charismatic Christianity, including the radical movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). In NAR theology, demons command physical locations and worldly institutions such as journalism, academia and the government.

Anything a believer doesn’t like can be framed as demonic. Biden getting more votes than Trump is a "stolen" election in Lake's mind because it was the result of demonic influence. Anything that doesn't go their way is demons. Car breaks down? Demons. Depressed? Demons. Kid gay? Demons.

Thousands of protesters were enticed to Washington on January 6 by NAR leaders who promised to lead them in spiritual warfare against the demons that supposedly possessed the Capitol. The shofars honking around DC were NAR battle calls. For some, spiritual warfare spilled over into literal combat. This can easily happen when followers are steeped in violent rhetoric and their opposition is portrayed not as misguided or even malicious, but as demonic

An estimated 10 million Americans identify as independent charismatic Christians. However, a preoccupation with demons is not unique to the NAR. A Catholic priest from Nebraska told a videographer on January 6 that he had exorcized a tattooed demon named Baphomet from the Capitol. Trump’s circle of demon-pushers includes Baptists like Greg Locke and Robert Jeffress and Roman Catholics like Mike Flynn. Franke and Vallow identify as Mormon.

In the nineteen eighties, millions of Americans became convinced that satanists had infiltrated key sectors of society, including the C-suites of Fortune 500 companies, the recording industry, and the nation’s daycare centers. We laugh about the Satanic Panic, but we're living through something much worse.

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pleads no contest in defam meaning she admits she has nothing see courts 3 moderation

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arizona Republican US Senate Kari Lake on Tuesday decided against doubling down on remarks she made about Maricopa County top election official Stephen Richer — a Republican, who filed a suit against the failed gubernatorial candidate for defamation last June, The Washington Post reports.

The election official for Arizona's largest county shared an op-ed published by *The Arizona Republic* announcing his legal action last year, declaring that Lake "and her team should be held accountable for 'utter disregard for the truth and the harm their words have caused.'"

He wrote, "She has cast doubt on my loyalty to our country, our state and my office. She did this knowing that it would only throw gasoline on the fire of falsehoods about our elections. Lake has not sent me into hiding. Nor will she ever. But her defamatory statements have irrevocably altered my life, closed opportunities and damaged relationships."

The Donald Trump-supporting former newscaster had been trying "trying to get the lawsuit thrown out in court," but the Arizona Court of Appeals decided in January Richer's lawsuit would proceed.

00:17

03:52

Per the Post, "Attorneys for Lake, her 2022 campaign for governor and an affiliated nonprofit group on Tuesday asked a judge to begin the process of determining damages as part of" the lawsuit, and the judge complied.

The Senate hopeful, according to the report, also has asked that the "judge set what is known as a default judgment hearing, which would essentially bypass the legal process for her to defend her comments. She instead wants the court to hold a hearing to determine whether damages are owed to Richer and, if so, the amount."

However, Lake did choose to air her grievances in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter). She "echoed rhetoric employed by Trump and called the case against her a 'political witch hunt,'" the Post reports, by comparing "the defamation case to the lawsuits Trump is facing, saying that those pursuing legal action 'know they can’t beat either of us fair and square, so they hit us with lawsuits to keep us tied up and off the campaign trail' and to 'try to stop me and bleed me dry.'"

An hour later, Richer called out Lake, writing, "It was a lie. It was always a lie. She did it to get your $25. Or to fire you up. But it was all a lie. There were no "300,000 fraudulent early ballots" etc. She defamed me. But she also lied to you."

When Richer announced the suit last year, the election official "explained that his wife had suffered considerably from the attacks on him, and there are now security concerns for her." He added, "A county election worker carries a gun to protect herself because she was stalked by people claiming she was 'stealing the election.'"

The Post reports, "Richer has asked the court to award him damages, attorneys’ fees and a public acknowledgment that the statements about him were untrue. He also wants Lake and her allies to remove all false information about him from their social media accounts and websites."

The Washington post's full report is availableat this link (subscription required).

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Arizona Republican Party elected Gina Swoboda its new chair on Saturday. Swoboda, the director of election day operations for former President Donald Trump in 2020, replaces Jeff DeWit, who resigned last week after being targeted by MAGA Senate candidate Kari Lake.

Swoboda’s bid for state party chair was promoted by Lake and endorsed by Trump, Nick Fuentes ally state Sen. Wendy Rogers, and Arizona-based far-right activist Charlie Kirk, head of Turning Point USA. Lake, who has never accepted her loss in the 2022 governor’s race, called Swoboda’s selection a “massive victory” for her campaign and for Trump’s, the Associated Press reported.

Swoboda runs VoteRef.com, which is part of a network of MAGA movement projects to enable challenges to voters’ eligibility, which American Oversight reported in December “could be used not just to compromise individual privacy, but also to intimidate voters, cause mass cancellations of voting registrations, and inundate local elected officials with burdensome, time-consuming, and inaccurate challenges.” Swoboda’s efforts have been funded by far-right megadonor Richard Uihlein.

Swoboda has collaborated with Cleta Mitchell, a former Trump attorney who took part in the notorious call on which Trump tried to bully Georgia’s secretary of state into “finding” him enough votes to overturn the election; Mitchell now runs a coalition of right-wing groups that are working to enable voter suppression in the name of “election integrity.”

A Pro Publica investigation of Swoboda’s Voter Reference Foundation in 2022 reported:

ProPublica contacted election officials in a dozen of the states where VoteRef has examined voter rolls, and in every case the officials said that the methodology used to identify the discrepancies was flawed, the data incomplete or the math wrong. The officials, a mix of Democrats and Republicans, were in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin…Election experts say the type of work being done by VoteRef risks leading to further misinformation or being weaponized by people trying to undermine the legitimacy of the past election or give the sense that voter fraud is a more encompassing problem than it’s proven to be. Or it could be used to harass or intimidate valid voters under the guise of challenging their legitimacy.

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earlier this week, Arizona GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit abruptly resigned after failed gubernatorial candidate and 2024 US Senate hopeful Kari Lake threatened to "leak additional recordings of their private conversations."

In a statement released via X/Twitter on Wednesday, January 24, Dewit commented on the single recording Lake had already released, in which the Republican chair can be heard telling Lake "that he spoke with associates 'back East' who asked about 'any companies out there or something that could just put [Lake] on the payroll to keep her out [of the 2024 US Senate race],' and that there were 'very powerful people' who wanted her to stay on the sidelines."

On Saturday, according to the Daily Beast, "Lake nominated Gina Swoboda, another right-winger who was endorsed by Donald Trump, on Saturday at a GOP meeting in north Phoenix, where she was reportedly met with boos and jeers as she took the stage."

Swoboda won the title by a "landslide," The Daily Beast reports, even as someone who "spread false claims about the integrity of the election system" as the "Trump campaign’s state Election Day director in 2020."

In his statement, Dewit emphasized, "Lake has a massive megaphone that I cannot compete with. I question how effective a United States Senator can be when they cannot be trusted to engage in private and confidential conversations."

*The Daily Beast's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

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Christian Nationalist Floyd Brown Is Kari Lake’s Campaign Chairman

By Kyle Mantyla | January 24, 2024

During Tuesday night’s “FlashPoint” broadcast, religious-right activist Floyd Brown revealed that he is serving as campaign chairman for Kari Lake’s campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Lake is a far-right MAGA cultist and stolen-election conspiracy theorist who ran unsuccessfully for governor of Arizona in 2022, though she steadfastly refuses to accept her defeat. She is now running to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election and she has reportedly tapped Brown to lead her campaign.

Brown was a guest on last night’s “FlashPoint” program, prompting host Gene Bailey to disclose Brown’s connection to the Lake campaign, which Brown confirmed.

“My title is Campaign Chairman and I’m very active in the campaign,” Brown revealed on “FlashPoint.” “I really felt lead of the Holy Spirit to be involved in her campaign as part of my worship in 2024.”

IFrame Content

Brown is a full-blow Christian nationalist who has advocated for Christians to gain control over America by taking over local governments, declaring that “every church should run their town.” [twts] vid

Floyd Brown, founder of The Western Journal, declares that right-wing Christians must "take back America" by having their church literally take over their town: "Every church should run their town."

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OFFERED HER A JOB IF WD QUIT SENATE RACE?!

'Resigning as Lake requested': AZ GOP chair quits amid threat of more leaks from Kari Lake - Alternet.org

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'When they repossess Mar-A-Lago': DeSantis fan accuses Kari Lake of lying about the FL gov at GOP debate - Alternet.org

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How Elise Stefanik’s endorsement of Kari Lake helps Dems: 'Happy to join her clown car' - Alternet.org

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covid-19-was-deployed-as-a-weapon-in-globalist-scheme-to-dethrone-trump-says-kari-lake

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former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday, December 21 — the day after Judge Beryl Howell ordered him to pay $146 million in damages to former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who sued him for defamation and won.

Giuliani falsely claimed, without evidence, that Freeman and Moss helped now-President Joe Biden steal the 2020 election from then-President Donald Trump — a repeatedly debunked claim the former Trump lawyer doubled down on even after losing the case. And Freeman and Moss, who have been inundated with death threats from Trump supporters, responded by filing a second defamation lawsuit against Giuliani.

Like Giuliani, far-right MAGA Republican and conspiracy theorist Kari Lake — who is running for the U.S. Senate seat presently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) — is a major election denialist. Lake was the GOP nominee in Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial election, which she falsely claims was stolen from her by supporters of now-Gov. Katie Hobbs (a Democrat). And according to MSNBC's Steve Benen, Giuliani's legal and financial woes are an ominous sign for her.

In a MaddowBlog column published in December 21, Benen explains, "If you're new to this story, Lake, in the aftermath of her 2022 defeat, took rhetorical aim at Bill Gates and Steven Richer — two Republican election officials in Maricopa County — accusing them of helping 'rig' the state's gubernatorial race and manipulating ballots. Richer argued soon after that Lake's claims not only hurt his professional life and harmed his reputation, but also, led to death threats against him and his family."

The columnist continues, "Richer sued the failed candidate for defamation. Lake's lawyers asked a judge to throw out the case, describing her conspiracy theories as 'rhetorical hyperbole.' The judge didn't buy it. We don't yet know what the outcome of the defamation case might be, but we now know that the litigation will move forward."

Benen, a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," emphasizes that the "legal dimension to Kari Lake's political efforts hasn't gone well" for the MAGA election denialist — and that there are major parallels between Lake and Giuliani.

"Part of this is relevant because Lake is her party's likely nominee in next year's closely watched U.S. Senate race in the Grand Canyon State, but there's also a broader significance," Benen argues. "As MSNBC's Alex Wagner explained, this Arizona case, coming on the heels of a successful defamation case against Rudy Giuliani, also has 'significant implications for what we as a country allow election deniers to get away with.'"

READ MORE:['Conspiracy-crazed' Rudy Giuliani is facing everything from 'financial ruin' to prison: report*

*Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

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nation mag

no lnx pix

POLITICS / AUGUST 29, 2023

The War Within the Young Republican Party

At the Young Republican National Convention, far-right figures made few inroads—but they did read my Nation investigation.

AMANDA MOORE

Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, speaks to members of the media during a rally outside the New York County Criminal Court in New York City on Monday, March 20, 2023.

On August 19, The Nation released my article to subscribers detailing some of what I saw during my 11 months undercover in far-right circles. By chance, the article’s publication coincided with the Young Republican National Convention in Dallas, Tex., an event I had long planned to cover. I knew that Gavin Wax, one of the figures mentioned in the piece, would also be there in his role as the president of the New York Young Republican Club.

During the convention, my investigation was only available to subscribers—it wasn’t pushed in front of the hard paywall until Tuesday, August 22, so I figured no one would read it at the Omni Dallas Hotel. After all, how many subscribers to The Nation could possibly be at a Young Republican event?

Read the Article that Enraged the Right

Undercover With the New Alt-Right

AMANDA MOORE

On Saturday morning, Wax greeted me with an over-the-top hello and a joke about the far right taking over. I had written about Wax twice before, and one of those times he worked to mass report both my Twitter account and my editor’s in retaliation for my coverage of him. I assumed his sarcastic acknowledgment was related to my prior work. By that night, things changed.

Saturday evening was the National Awards Gala. After the event, I ran into Wax in the hallway. The NYYRC and New York State Young Republican Club had won an award for outstanding recruitment, which Wax was holding. Wax and Chelsea Hall, the NYYRC’s communications director, announced that Wax had won an award, and told me I should write about that next time. Not realizing they had read the undercover piece, I was confused. I congratulated Wax on doing such a good job. “He did do a good job,” Hall yelled, and I promised to mention the award next time I wrote about him. (Promise kept.)

I made my way over to a group of Young Republicans who were aware that I was a journalist. NYYRC Vice President Nathan Berger walked up to us, and aggressively asked who I was and why I was there. At that moment, I couldn’t place his face, though I was pretty sure he was a member of NYYRC.

“Do you know Gavin Wax? I’m a journalist, and I write about him,” I said, then told Berger he looked familiar. He assured me that I didn’t. Someone asked what club he was from, and when he said New York, one gestured to me and said that he must know who I was.

Berger snapped that he did not know me, then immediately announced that I had just written a piece for The Nation, and everyone should read it.

“Sounds like you know who she is!” someone replied to Berger.

Uncomfortable with Berger’s temper and bizarre confrontation style, we made our way downstairs, where we ran into Wax and Hall. Wax began yelling at the person next to me, screaming that I was antifa and demanding to know why he was talking to me. This was a Young Republican event, he said, and I was not a Republican. “Did you know that she’s antifa?” he asked.

The YR being yelled at told Wax that he didn’t know who he was, but his angry, loud demeanor did not make him seem particularly credible. Wax announced that I was secretly recording everything everyone said to me, and it dawned on me that I probably should record this interaction. When I pulled out my phone, Hall pointed out what I was doing.

“Yeah, I know that she’s recording,” Wax replied. “And I love that you admitted that you committed multiple felonies in Florida.”

When I countered that the places were public—or at least not venues where you’d have an expectation of privacy—Wax smirked. “OK, you can argue that in court. I cannot wait for the arrest warrants.” He turned back to the YR who was talking to me. “But anyway! Good luck, she’s recording everything you’re doing, and have the best time here.”

While Wax was happy to cause a scene, most of the YRs just avoided me, though a few were willing to talk. Wax is brash and aggressive on Twitter, and he will leverage his followers against outspoken YRs whom he considers RINOs. At YRNC, that brutish, Trumpian approach to politics was not the norm. Multiple people who heard Wax confront me apologized for his behavior later.

As with the larger GOP, Donald Trump has divided the YRNF. On August 19, the YRs voted on their new national leadership. There were two coalitions to choose from: the more moderate Grow YR and Ascend, who largely represented the MAGA wing of the YRs. (A representative from Ascend told me the group does not want to make YRNF a MAGA populist organization, though nearly every person I talked to supporting Grow disagreed.)

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Grow’s candidate for national chair was Hayden Padgett of the Texas Young Republicans. In 2020, Padgett released a video saying that George Floyd was murdered and that Black lives matter. Padgett’s message in the 2020 video was not an endorsement of the Black Lives Matter protest movement but of the idea that everyone is created equally and in God’s image.

Some of his detractors spent a year and half using the video to discredit him, even buying the URL www.haydenpadgett.com and redirecting it to a clip of him acknowledging anti-Black racism.

But the campaign didn’t work, and Padgett won with overwhelming support, pulling in 575 votes to his opponent’s 127. As it turns out, the Trumpian wing of YRNF does not have the same pull within the organization that they have on social media.

Kari Lake was the keynote speaker for the awards gala, and there had been rumors of a walkout. And when she went up to speak, a few people did leave the room. Some YRs complained about her lies over the election. One person said they didn’t want to hear about Ukraine, saying that Ukrainian immigrants in their district were reliable Republican voters and that the US was right to defend the country’s sovereignty.

The last day of the convention, the Texas YRs de-federated the Dallas Young Republicans, removing the chapter from Texas Young Republican Federation and stripping them of the right to use the Texas Young Republican name. The Dallas YRs have a reputation for being “based,” which in this context means they embody some of the worst characteristics of Trumpian politics. The group’s chair, for instance, has an event next month featuring John Doyle, who planned a Stop the Steal rally with Nick Fuentes and is a proud Christian nationalist.

“The Dallas YRs were removed, because they have refused to engage with the parent organization for a very long time,” said Matt Wiltshire, the YRNF’s finance director. “They don’t talk to us or communicate. They have not cared about rules for years. They allow expelled Texas YRs to attend their events.” (Dallas YRs have since spent their time on Twitter, insisting they quit before they were voted out.)

The Texas YRs also voted to separate themselves from the Republican Party of Texas, due to their strained relationship with Matt Rinaldi, the Texas GOP chairman. In the lead-up to the election, Rinaldi refused to endorse Padgett, a fellow Texan who was almost unanimously supported by the Texas YRs, or even to remain uninvolved. Instead, Rinaldi endorsed Padgett’s more MAGA opponent, whose brand of Republicanism was more in line with his own.

“Rinaldi came to the convention not to spend time with the Texas YRs, but to go to the New York State Young Republican meeting,” Wiltshire explained. The meeting had “people who have been cruel to many members of our organization,” and Rinadli went “in order to disparage the Texas YRs and Hayden.”

Just before the cote, a representative from Ascend had told me, “Even though it’s the last thing we want, I assume there will be splinter organizations. This could be the last large YRNF convention ever.” This may already be playing out.

On Sunday, the Rockwall County YRs voted to leave the Texas Young Republican Federation, citing TYRF’s decision to end their partnership with the Republican Party of Texas. Like Dallas, Rockwall has a reputation for being a based club, one that is not in lockstep with TYRF’s leadership. In their release, they wrote that they “are proud to form a coalition with the Dallas Young Republicans.”

While the MAGA populists might often be the loudest voices from YRNF, they appear to be losing the internal struggle for power. Much like within the GOP, the rift over is likely to grow wider and deeper in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

Amanda Moore is a writer and researcher who focuses on far-right extremism. }}}:

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an 12 23

earlier this year, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) voted with Senate Republicans for legislation to kill President Joe Biden's student debt forgiveness proposal. In the months following that vote, she was a major recipient of the student loan industry's largesse.

The bill itself, H.J. Res 45, would have blocked Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower, though the president promised to veto it if it reached his desk, and the Supreme Court ultimately struck down the proposal at the end of its 2023 session. The bill narrowly passed the Senatein June, with 52 votes in favor and 46 in opposition. Sinema joined forces with all Senate Republicans to give the bill the narrow majority it needed for passage. Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) and Jon Tester (D-Montana) also voted with the GOP to pass the measure.

According to the Phoenix New Times, Sinema proceeded to rake in thousands of dollars in contributions from various donors connected to student loan servicers, for-profit colleges, banks and debt collectors after her vote.

The New Times combed through Sinema's campaign finance disclosure forms on the Federal Election Commission database and learned that the Arizona senator received approximately $27,000 in PAC donations between June and September of 2023. That includes a $5,000 contribution from NelNet PAC, which is a political action committee representing the interests of the second-largest provider of federally backed loans given by private lenders. Sinema also received $5,000 from a PAC connected to private lender Sallie Mae and $5,000 from a PAC run by the board chair of a for-profit Arizona college.

Smaller donations from the industry during that time period include a $2,500 donation from debt collector Portfolio Recovery Associates, $2,500 from a Washington, DC-based trade association representing the interests of for-profit colleges, and a combined $7,000 in donations from three PACs run by banks.

Despite her fundraising activity, Arizona's senior US senator has not yet indicated if she plans to run for reelection in 2024. She currently faces opposition from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) and failed 2022 Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who campaigned as a vociferous supporter of former President Donald Trump.

:{Current polls show a virtual dead heat between the three candidates, with Gallego having a slight edge over his two opponents. :{Gallego brought in more than $3 million in donationsduring the third quarter of 2023, with an average donation amount of $28}:

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Kari Lake says it doesn’t matter if she lied about elected official - Alternet.org

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[How Elise Stefanik’s endorsement of Kari Lake helps Dems: 'Happy to join her clown car' - Alternet.orgHow Elise Stefanik’s endorsement of Kari Lake helps Dems: 'Happy to join her clown car' - Alternet.orghttps://www.alternet.org/msn-uk/elise-stefanik-kari-lake/[

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an 11 23

lINCOLN — The first Nebraska Republican Party fundraiser of 2024 features former television reporter, U.S. Senate candidate and election denier Kari Lake of Arizona. She visits Omaha on Jan. 5, the eve of the third anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Lake, a Republican who lost her 2022 gubernatorial election to Democrat Katie Hobbs in Arizona, is running a 2024 race against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in December. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is running as well.

Like a man she calls her political muse, former President Donald Trump, Lake denies losing her race. Lake rose to national prominence by embracing Trump’s rejection of his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. She sharply criticized Republicans who acknowledged his defeat.

She is visiting Nebraska during an Iowa campaign trip for Trump. Her event is the latest push to excite the base by new leadership of the Nebraska GOP, which in July 2022 ousted a team loyal to then-Gov. Pete Ricketts. The new team includes similarly Trump-focused Republicans.

Party spokeswoman Dawn Liphardt said Nebraska conservatives are interested in Republicans retaking the Senate and are interested in Arizona’s race. She called Lake “a strong speaker” who will “get Republicans excited” about the 2024 elections locally, which include two Senate races.

Lake is well-liked among some conservatives for aggressively critiquing members of the press and for her loyalty to Trump and his populist approach to politics. Like him, she emphasizes border security.

The Nebraska GOP announced the event by email, selling $50 general admission tickets, $25 tickets for booster club members, $600 for a book signing with Lake, and a $10,000-per-person VIP event before the candidate speaks at 7 p.m. at CHI Center Omaha.

‘Doubling down’

Then Lake’s speech took a conspiratorial turn. “This is how they do it. They want to try to take you down in this movement. They don’t want you to celebrate.”

It wasn’t clear who “they” were in Lake’s scenario. By that point, there were news reports of widespread problems in Republican-dominated Pinal County, just to the south of Maricopa County. A miscalculation by election officials there had resulted in a shortage of ballots in several precincts, with some 750 voters being turned away (though most if not all were given the opportunity to vote later that day). “What in the hell is going on?” Lake exclaimed. To many in the audience, the question itself was enough and did not require an answer. Any glitch or ambiguity on voting day would be sufficient to dispute any future election results that did not emphatically produce the outcome desired by the ascendant reactionary right.

“That’s a compromised election,” Mark Finchem, the secretary of state candidate, said to me of Pinal County. “These are people who were disenfranchised.” He had arrived at Lake’s party after his own victory was all but assured. I approached him after he finished an interview with a reporter for the far-right outlet Real America’s Voice. Finchem told me that he had spent part of the day monitoring a voting center. I said that I had encountered other such monitors north of here. Given their prevalence, I asked him, was there any reason at all to suspect anything more devious than human error in Pinal County? Finchem thought for a second as beads of sweat rolled down from underneath his cowboy hat. Then, grimly, he answered.

“Everything is suspect right now.”

Robert Draper is a contributing writer for the magazine. He is the author of several books, most recently “To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq,” which was excerpted in the magazine. Peter van Agtmael is a Magnum photographer. His latest book, “Sorry for the War,” is about the American disconnect with war.

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an 8 22

Former President Donald Trump suffered a major humiliation in Georgia when, in May, Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger crushed their “Stop the Steal” challengers in GOP primaries; Kemp, in fact, defeated the Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue by a brutal 52 percent. But in Arizona, another key swing state that President Joe Biden won in 2020, there were much different outcomes in Republican primaries that found the most extreme, far-right “Stop the Steal” MAGA candidates defeating more traditional conservatives. The Big Lie promoters who are now competing with Democratic nominees in the general election in Arizona include gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem and state attorney general nominee Abraham Hamadeh.

Lake, Finchem and Hamadeh have all falsely claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump in Arizona through widespread voter fraud. It wasn’t; recount after recount has made it abundantly clear that Biden defeated Trump fair and square in Arizona, where on Election Night 2020, right-wing Fox News’ decision desk was the first to call the Grand Canyon State for Biden.

In an article published by Politico on August 18, Phoenix-based journalist Hank Stephenson — who co-founded the Arizona Agenda newsletter — describes a conflict within the Arizona GOP: far-right MAGA conspiracy theorists versus traditional conservatives. And Arizona’s traditional conservatives, according to Stephenson, fear that they’re losing the battle.

“When Arizona state lawmaker Mark Finchem, a 2020 election denier who deals in fringe legal theories, won the Republican nomination for secretary of state earlier this month, many of his GOP colleagues in the (Arizona) State Legislature couldn’t believe it,” Stephenson explains. “To be clear, they knew he would win — he had Donald Trump’s endorsement — but they were still stunned. Mark Finchem. Him. A back-bench lawmaker best known locally for his over-the-top drugstore cowboy get-ups and extreme ideas, Finchem would be in charge of the state’s elections should he win in November. That would also put him first in the line of succession for the governorship since Arizona doesn’t have a lieutenant governor.”

The political landscape in Arizona has changed dramatically from what it was back in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. In those days, Arizona was known for being a deep red state and was closely identified with Goldwater conservatism — as in Sen. Barry Goldwater and his successor, Sen. John McCain. Now, it is a swing state with two centrist Democratic U.S. senators: Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly, who is running for reelection this year and is up against Trump-backed MAGA Republican Blake Masters.

These days, it isn’t uncommon to hear Arizona Democrats say that they miss the days of Goldwater/McCain conservatism — which is ironic in light of the fact that when Goldwater won the 1964 GOP presidential nomination, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) successfully painted him as an extremist who would get the U.S. into a nuclear war (the that sunk Goldwater’s 1964 campaign can be found on YouTube). But the MAGA Republicans of 2022 are way to the right of Goldwater, who was considered an arch-conservative in his day, and McCain. Democrat Sinema often praises McCain, who was proud to call himself a Goldwater conservative.

But while Arizona on the whole is much more of a swing state than it was 30 or 40 years ago, much of the Arizona GOP has been moving more and more to the MAGA far right.

“Trump’s slate of political insurgents swept the GOP nomination for every state office in which he offered his blessing, from the U.S. Senate down to state Senate races,” Stephenson explains. “After decades of civil war, the Arizona primaries mark a decisive swing in the state GOP’s balance of power. The center-right, pro-business wing of the party led by the late Sen. John McCain and Gov. Doug Ducey has been defeated, at least for now. Finchem and other far-right outsiders — the original Tea Party activists and the new Trumpist hardliners — have taken over…. Lake, a former TV news anchor, fended off more than $20 million in spending against her to narrowly capture the nomination, despite her opponent’s backing from Ducey, former GOP Gov. Jan Brewer and former Vice President Mike Pence.”

Stephenson warns that if Lake, Finchem and other MAGA Republicans are victorious in November and Trump runs for president in 2024, Trump could have “a slate of statewide officials who could steal the election for him” in Arizona.

Arizona State Sen. Paul Boyer, a conservative Republican who received death threats from MAGA extremists after refusing to go along with the Big Lie, decided not to seek reelection in 2022. Discussing the Arizona primary results with Politico, Boyer commented, “Abe Hamadeh for AG? Kari Lake for governor? It’s very simple. If you can fog up a mirror and win the ‘Arizona Apprentice,’ you’re good.”

Many Never Trump conservatives are hoping that if Democrats enjoy a lot of victories in Arizona in November, the Arizona GOP will move away from extremism. But Barrett Marson, a GOP consultant in the Grand Canyon State, isn’t so sure that MAGA losses in November would discourage the Arizona Republican Party from continuing to move in the direction.

Marson told Politico, “It may take a drubbing at the polls this year to get Republican voters off the Trump train. Or maybe they’ll just double down.”

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8 15 22 an

In six key battleground states that played a decisive role in the 2020 presidential race, Republican candidates who have openly embraced former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" have won nearly two-thirds of the GOP nominating contests for positions with power over state and federal elections, a potentially seismic threat to democracy.

According to a Washington Post analysis published Monday, 54 of 87 Republican nominees for key posts in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have denied the legitimacy of President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

"Had those candidates held power in 2020, they would have had the electoral clout to try something that the current officeholders refused: overturning the vote and denying Biden the presidency," the Post notes. "Whether they could have succeeded in practice is a matter of vigorous debate among scholars, who cite the potential for court challenges and other means of upholding the results."

"But the experts agree on one thing: A close presidential contest that comes down to the outcome in states where officials are willing to try to thwart the popular will could throw the country into chaos," the newspaper adds. "It would potentially delay the result, undermine confidence in the democratic system, and sow the seeds of civil strife on a scale even greater than what the nation saw on January 6, 2021."

Trump, who is gearing up for a possible 2024 run as he's under criminal investigation by the Justice Department, has endorsed and campaigned for many of the candidates featured in the Post's analysis, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake—a former TV news anchor whose incessant lies about the 2020 election catapulted her to a win in the GOP primary earlier this month, delighting the former president.

Even in victory, Lake lashed out at the Arizona election process, complaining that the results "took longer than they should have."

The Post's analysis confirms that Arizona, a state Biden carried narrowly in 2020, is a bastion of election denial on the GOP side: 12 of 13 Republican nominees for state and federal offices there have questioned the election, including the chosen candidate for secretary of state.

[twt graf]

noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called the rise of GOP election deniers across the U.S. "the biggest story not enough people are watching."

"This is how our democracy could crumble, quickly and quietly," Bookbinder warned.

The notion that Biden was elected illegitimately is broadly popular with Republican voters, according to recent opinion surveys. As the Post points out, "The predilection among Republican primary voters toward candidates who deny the result of the last election extends well beyond Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona—three states that together accounted for 47 electoral votes in 2020, more than enough to flip the last election to Trump."

Ian Vandewalker, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, wrote in a blog post earlier this month that "the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Trump has been pushed by powerful politicians, starting with Trump himself."

"But it may be leaders closer to home who have the greatest ability to affect the popularity of election denial among the people of their state," he added.

One prominent Republican officeholder that is actively boosting election deniers is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 presidential contender.

The Orlando Sentinel reported last week that DeSantis is "set to appear at rallies for Pennsylvania GOP governor's candidate Doug Mastriano, Arizona candidate for governor Kari Lake, and U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, all of whom have denied Biden's win and falsely claimed election fraud.

DeSantis was one of the first Republicans to suggest state legislatures could overrule voters to choose Trump.

"Appearing on Fox News on November 5, two days after the election," the Sentinel observed, "he said 'presidential electors are done by the legislators and the schemes they create and the framework. And if there's departure from that, if they're not following law, if they're ignoring the law, then they can provide remedies as well.'"

The Republican Party's elevation of fervent election deniers—often with the support of dark money—in battleground states and nationwide has dramatically raised the stakes of the upcoming November contests, given that they could usher into power officials willing to subvert the democratic process to secure their desired outcome.

Wisconsin offers an illustrative example of November's implications. As the New York Times reported Monday, "The governor's race this fall, along with a pivotal State Supreme Court contest next spring, will decide whether Republicans can solidify their grip on the swing state and remake its voting laws."

"Nowhere in the country have Republican lawmakers been more aggressive in their attempts to seize a partisan edge than in Wisconsin," the Times noted. "Having gerrymandered the Legislature past the point that it can be flipped, they are now pushing intensely to take greater control over the state's voting infrastructure ahead of the 2024 presidential contest."

===

press release was sent to the media by Senate Republican spokeswoman Kim Quintero and was subsequently posted on the Senate GOP caucus’ official Twitter page, the Arizona Mirror reported Friday.

Hours later, in the face of intense criticism that the statement broke state law, the Senate retracted the statement and insisted it was “accidentally” distributed through the Senate instead of Fann’s campaign. How that happened is unclear, and neither Fann nor Senate Republican spokeswoman Kim Quintero responded to questions from the Arizona Mirror.

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an 6 22

2022 wacko-rama

although Arizona has gone from being a deep red state to being a swing state, the Arizona GOP has not responded by purging itself of extremists. In fact, far-right MAGA conspiracy theorists like Kelli Ward (who chairs the Arizona Republican Party), gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (a former television news anchor) and Rep. Paul Gosar have becoming increasingly prominent in Arizona politics. And Arizona Republic opinion columnist Phil Boas, in his June 2 column, has a recommendation for the Arizona GOP: ditch the MAGA extremists and return to a more traditional Barry Goldwater/John McCain type of conservatism.

Lake, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Ward have been aggressive promoters of the Big Lie — falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. Such “whackadoodles,” Boas writes, have been a thorn in the side of non-MAGA conservatives like former Sen. Jeff Flake.

“In Arizona, the whackadoodles took control of the Arizona Republican Party a decade before Trump,” Boas explains. “They were loud and eccentric and loved to censure John McCain. But they were never trusted with more power than, say, your average hamster, so they were perfectly adorable and easily ignored. That changed when the Maricopa County Republican Party invited Donald Trump to speak at the Arizona Biltmore in 2015.”

Boas adds, “Trump then was still considered a pretender in the race for the White House, and his sometimes crude comments led more powerful Republicans such as U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake to protest.”

McCain, a Barry Goldwater disciple who died in 2018, was a scathing critic of Trump and the MAGA movement. And in 2018, Flake — obviously frustrated by the MAGA extremists who had taken over his party — decided not to seek reelection. That seat is now held by a centrist Democrat: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who has been a frequent source of frustration to the progressive wing of her party but gets along well with members of the McCain family — including John McCain’s widow Cindy McCain and his daughter, Republican activist Meghan McCain, a former co-host of ABC’s “The View.”

Arizona’s other U.S. Senate seat — the one once held by Goldwater and later, McCain — is also held by a centrist Democrat: Sen. Mark Kelly, who is up for reelection in the 2022 midterms. A state that was, for many years, synonymous with Goldwater/McCain conservatism now has two Democratic U.S. senators.

Boas notes that Lake and Ward have become “the most visible evangelists of Trump Republicanism in Arizona,” arguing that both of them have been terrible for the Arizona GOP.

But Boas stresses that the type of MAGA extremism that Lake and Ward champion was recently rebuked in some GOP primaries in Georgia, where incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp defeated a Trump-backed challenger, former Sen. David Perdue, by a whopping 52%. And incumbent Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was victorious as well, defeating his challenger, Rep. Jody Hice, by 18%.

Perdue and Hice, like Lake in Arizona, campaigned on the Big Lie.

“In Georgia, a state long considered a peer to Arizona because of its demographic similarities, the old-school Republicans stomped Trump candidates for governor, secretary of state and attorney general,” Boas observes. “Brian Kemp won reelection as Georgia governor, beating Trump errand boy David Perdue by 52 points. That’s not a landslide. That’s a collision of planets, an exploding ball of flame that can still be seen through the drapes at Mar-a-Lago.

Boas adds, “If you’ve been buying what the Arizona GOP televangelists have been selling, this might be a good time to short.”

===

amanda c

https://www.thebulwark.com/dinesh-dsouzas-2000-mules-is-a-hilarious-mockumentary/

dinesh D’Souza’s 2000 Mules is Plandemic for election truthers. For the non-insane, it’s a hilarious mockumentary. Not that D’Souza cares what the non-insane think: He has discovered that there are enough suckers out there to keep him laughing all the way to the bank.

Released by the Salem Media Group,2000 Mules aspires to be a work of serious investigative reporting which will rock the foundations of American democracy. In reality, 2000 Mulesis an investigative documentary in roughly the same way Reno 911 was a hard-hitting look at real-life police work. Though that doesn’t mean that D’Souza’s cash-grab won’t further pollute the political system. For instance, Kari Lake, who can’t wait to get elected governor of Arizona so she can jail her political opponents, is championing the film—which ends with a plea for law enforcement to take up D’Souza’s cause.

Here’s the elevator pitch for 2000 Mules: D’Souza’s buddies at True the Vote spent $2 million on cellphone geotracking data—which he describes as “digital DNA”—that they say proves “mules” were paid to illegally “traffick” thousands of ballots from non-profit “stash houses” into drop-off ballot boxes.

All D’Souza really has—if the cellphone data is real and is really what he represents it as being—is some evidence that some people made frequent trips in areas around ballot drop-off boxes which, by design, were usually placed in heavily-traveled areas for convenience. Putting that aside, who are these mules? Who paid them? Where is the evidence of people making repeated trips to illegally stuff drop-boxes with ballots? What non-profits were involved? These questions are not even asked, let alone answered, in the movie. The theory of the case relies almost entirely on digital maps with dots and squiggles, supposedly demonstrating the questionable movement of the “mules.” Boom-Diggity. All that’s left is for the FBI to take it from here. Or something.

2000 Mules doesn’t survive the most basic fact-checks to support its most important claims. See them here, here, here, and here. But, let’s stipulate that the film’s purpose isn’t really to present facts. Because if it were true that D’Souza had rock-solid evidence of widespread voter fraud in his possession, would a true patriot like him be selling that evidence for $29.99 per download? Bwahahaha. (In defense of D’Souza, that $29.99 was only the premium VOD price. This week he dropped it to $19.99 to buy or just $14.99 to rent. Or you can get the movie free by purchasing an annual subscription to his Rumble channel!)

It’s better to view the film as a performance piece, a comedic triumph where the joke is on the rubes gullible enough to give D’Souza their money.

some quick backstory: The people behind True the Vote—Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips–have been unsuccessfully hunting the Loch Ness Monster of voter fraud for many years. After the 2016 election, Phillips claimed he “verified” that more than 3 million votes were illegally cast by “non-citizens.” Piggybacking on Phillips, Trump launched a “Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity” to pursue this and other claims. Chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the commission ultimately found no evidence of widespread voter fraud and disbanded without ever producing a report. (Since producing such a report would contradict Trump’s kooky allies.)

After the 2020 election, True the Vote sought $7 million to chase down new voter fraud stories and shop them to GOP consultants in hopes of getting some courtroom or member of Congress to take them seriously. But even in the cluster that was the Kraken #StopTheSteal show, they had no takers. It was such a disaster that one of True the Vote’s biggest donors, who gifted the organization $2.5 million, took the group to court to get his money back, citing their failed efforts.

All of which goes to say that True the Vote’s tall tales are too dumb even for its biggest supporters to go along with anymore. D’Souza, however, is happy to scrape up the bullshit and repackage it for the direct-to-consumer market.

some of the film’s funniest moments come when D’Souza summons his fellow Salem Media Group talkers—Dennis Prager, Eric Metaxes, Seb Gorka, and Charlie Kirk—for a meeting of the minds to discuss their thoughts about election fraud before and after viewing D’Souza’s movie.

The “before” meeting amounts to an assortment of pronouncements about how none of these very fine people believe that Biden won. They cite the massive turnout in the election, GOP success down-ballot, Trump’s ability to draw large crowds, and apparent popularity in the face of withering media coverage.

Kirk offers that “millions of Americans know something went wrong, and they have little pieces, and no one’s really put it together.” Prager, somewhat of an outlier in the group, says he wants someone to “show me the proof” of fraud. Which sets the stage for D’Souza to helpfully put the pieces together.

The movie draws heavy suspicions about people who dropped off ballots early in the morning, wore gloves to drop off ballots, and took photos of drop boxes. All this is drummed up as proof of nefarious activity captured on surveillance video. Coupled with the True the Vote’s geotracking data, the viewer is led to believe these were the “mules” making repeat trips to unnamed non-profit offices to collect ballots and “traffick” them to drop boxes. One problem: They have no video showing these individuals making repeat trips to said non-profits or drop locations, or evidence they were paid to do so. Also, one of the so-called “mules” presented in the film has already been investigated by Georgia officials and no evidence of wrongdoing was found.

No matter. Engelbrecht and Phillips make their presentation to the group and the guys jump on the clips accordingly. What Salem wants, Salem gets.

Questioning why someone would drop off ballots late at night or early in the morning is a common refrain, even though drop boxes were implemented precisely so voters could drop off their ballots any time they chose. For this, these unnamed individuals are depicted as dangerous people. Phillips described them as “not grandma out walking her dog.” They have “bad backgrounds, bad reputations, we’ve had encounters with several who are not terribly positive.”

“Violent guys?” D’Souza asked.

“Can be,” Phillips replied. “They are interested in one thing, that’s money.”

But even the Salem hosts seem wise to the game and acknowledge that D’Souza hasn’t, and won’t be able to prove anything. Gorka sums it up with this non sequitur: “It’s the perfect crime because it cannot be curated after it’s committed.”

Kirk says: “I don’t think we will ever know the full story and what makes this crime so compelling and unique is that once the ballot enters the system it’s really hard to reverse engineer it. But when you have the cell phone geolocation data and then the actual footage. . . it explains the sudden spike of Biden support that we saw late at night.”

At this point, all that’s left is for law enforcement to intervene. “There’s an easy way to bust it,” D’Souza says. “Law enforcement has to step in . . . go interview the mules. Who paid you? Where did you get the money?”

Which satisfies Prager enough to bellow:

“They have ruined election day in the United States of America. That’s provable, and that is enough for me to fight the left with every fiber in my body!” This counts as a conversion. But, considering the fact Prager is someone who also believes the ,”:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"/maxresdefault.jpg),” it’s not like he needed any pretext from D’Souza to declare total war on the Democrats. That’s just a regular day at the office for the old man.

the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro2000 Mules and said, “my problem with the documentary” is that “there are dots that need filling in.” He said:

You can question all the ballot harvesting; you can take for granted that all the geolocation data that they’re using is actually true . . . that does not mean all those ballots are illegal votes. . . . . What you need is actual evidence of people going to multiple drop boxes that isn’t just the cell phone data moving past the drop boxes. . . I guess what I would say is an answer that’s gonna make nobody happy. I think that the data is really interesting. I think that it’s really suspicious for sure, I don’t think it’s just positive that this alone shifted the election . . . I think the conclusion of the film is not justified by the premises of the film itself. There are a bunch of dots that need to be connected. Maybe they will be connected, but they haven’t been connected in the film.

But I suspect that D’Souza is delighted with even the critical reviews. A hate watch is still a watch. All the people talking and writing about 2000 Mules means more relevance and more downloads and more income. Despite being released only on “non-cancelable” platforms, D’Souza says the film has grossed $10 million.

What burns D’Souza are the people who won’t give him attention—especially those at Fox News and Newsmax. And why shouldn’t he be? The movie’s storyline, complete with a brown menace subplot, is tailor-made for their audiences. At one point in the film, a woman, who keeps her identity hidden, says she worked as a “mule” in Yuma County, Arizona, on behalf of an organization that collected ballots from Hispanic people who were unable for various reasons to get to the polls. “Most of the Hispanics that live in the town are not well educated as far as the law . . . I call it the Mexican mafia, seriously because they work like that.”

How could Fox and Newsmax resist this premium content? Probably because the executives at these infotainment companies are wary of fighting another round of lawsuits for pushing bogus election claims. Dinesh D’Souza is judgment proof. Fox and Newsmax aren’t.

Donald Trump is mad about the Fox blackout, too. He gave the film a glitzy premiere at Mar-a-Lago, and still, no love from Tucker Carlson. Waaaah.

“Fox News is no longer Fox News,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “They won’t even show or discuss the greatest & most impactful documentary of our time, ‘2000 Mules.’ The Radical Left Democrats are thrilled – They don’t want the TRUTH to get out.”

In a way, the pairing of 2000 Mules and Truth Social is perfect: A pretend social media company doing PR for a fake documentary, with both siphoning off dollars from gullible superfans.

It would be funny if these people weren’t also the past and possible future of the United States government.

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2 22 an salon

Donald Trump's pick to be the next governor of Arizona, Kari Lake, a former local television reporter with no political experience, praises cops, touts "back the blue" on her campaign website and vows to increase resources to tackle violent criminals. She's also hit the campaign trail multiple times with a convicted felon who was accused by the Justice Department (DOJ) of trying to kill an FBI informant.

According to a finance report recently amended by Lake's campaign, the former TV news anchor who has repeatedly echoed Trump's election lies paid $2,000 to Kenneth Ulibarri, a repeat violent offender who pleaded guilty after the DOJ accused him of trying to hire a hitman to kill an FBI informant and an unrelated state charge of battery on a peace officer.

Ulibarri spoke at Lake's "Stand for Freedom" rally in Scottsdale last July, the first rally of her campaign. He was introduced as a man who's "been addicted to drugs, imprisoned, and totally hopeless" before a "miracle came" and he became a small business owner "on a mission to help others break free from addiction." Ulibarri used his rally speech to rail against "liberal policies that are destroying our country" and a laundry list of conservative culture war issues while touting his nonprofit work helping teenagers become "soldiers for Christ."

"She stands for all the things that I believe in," Ulibarri said, adding that he would not send his kids to public school or college because they might "come back with purple hair and gay."

Campaign finance records show that the campaign paid $2,000 to Ulibarri at an address where he is listed as the statutory agent for a natural hair services business.

Ulibarri also appeared at a roundtable event with Lake earlier this month, according to images posted to Instagram. It's unclear how many campaign events in total Ulibarri has appeared in. Ulibarri and Lake's campaign did not respond to questions from Salon.

During his July speech, Ulibarri made references to his past but did not mention the extent of his criminal record. As the Justice Department alleged, in 2015 Ulibarri "attempted to murder an FBI informant to prevent that informant from testifying" in a New Mexico trial related to a drug distribution ring. Ulibarri admitted in a plea agreement that he told another FBI informant that he and others "were hiring a hitman to kill" the FBI informant, though he denied that he was serious and claimed that he only wanted to get money from the second informant under the guise of hiring a hitman, court documents show.

Ulibarri in 2019 pleaded guilty to a 2014 charge of battery upon a peace officer, New Mexico court records show. In 2006, he was arrested on a felony drug warrant after he was found with a known associate of a man charged with killing a New Mexico sheriff, according to KRQE. He was also convicted in 2014 on a charge of driving under the influence, according to state records. In 2000, he pleaded guilty to receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle and criminal damage to property. In 1999, he and others were accused of beating another inmate at a New Mexico jail, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Ulibarri was also charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer in 2002, though those charges were later dropped, and hit with a litany of drug offenses and evidence tampering charges between 2002 and 2013 that were also dropped.

Fellow Republican primary contender Karrin Taylor Robson's campaign called out Lake over her ties to Ulibarri. "Real conservatives who support a secure border and back the blue don't pay a campaign operative with a criminal history that includes drug trafficking, battery of a female officer and attempted murder of an FBI informant," Matthew Benson, a spokesman for Robson's campaign, said in a statement to Salon. "Like everything else involving Kari Lake, her words don't match her actions."

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/kari-lake-says-its-slanderous-to-report-shes-attending-the-white-nationalist-afpac-conference/

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Kari Lake Says It’s ‘Slanderous’ to Report She’s Attending the White Nationalist AFPAC Conference

Kyle MantylaBy Kyle Mantyla | February 18, 2022

The list of those participating in the upcoming America First Political Action Conference continues to grow.

Organized by white nationalist Stop the Steal activist Nick Fuentes, who regularly uses his online platorm to spew antisemitic, misogynistic, racist rhetoric, AFPAC had already announced the participation of a cavalcade of white nationalists, alt-right MAGA activists, and right-wing conspiracy theorists likeStew Peters, Lauren Witzke, Patrick Howley, Michelle Malkin, Jared Taylor, Peter Brimelow, Andrew Torba, Jesse Lee Peterson, Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, and former Rep. Steve King.

On Thursday, Fuentes announced the addition of radical birther conspiracy theorist and former sheriff Joe Arpiao and Arizona state Rep. Wendy Rogers, a 67-year-old grandmother who has catapulted onto the national stage after just one term in office thanks to her tireless promotion of the “Big Lie,” her embrace of former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed her bid for reelection, and her outreach to the far-right extremes of the white nationalist America First movement.

Another Trump-endorsed candidate, Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, is featured among the “special guests”who are scheduled to appear in a promotional image for the conference, but Lake is disputing that claim, insisting on Twitter that it is a “false photo” and that it is “slanderous” to report that she intends to participate in AFPAC.

Fuentes tried to smooth things over and came to Lake’s defense on Telegram when other began to attack her for trying to distance herself from AFPAC, asserting that he had been “under the impression” that Lake would be participating but then she had to drop out because of a “scheduling mix-up.”

Last year, Rep. Paul Gosar was among those who spoke at the conference. The congressman—who faced wide criticism for his appearance but was not censured by his party—has not indicated whether he will attend the conference again this year.

Tags: Kari Lake Nick Fuentes AFPAC

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/kari-lake/

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This MAGA conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxxer, endorsed by Trump, may be Arizona’s next governor

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake speaking at the 2021 Young Women's Leadership Summit, hosted by Turning Point USA at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, Gage Skidmore

Alex Henderson January 18, 2022

In the past, Kari Lake was a Democrat, a television reporter and a critic of former President Donald Trump. But these days, the 52-year-old Lake is a Republican — specifically, a far-right MAGA Republican and conspiracy theorist of the Marjorie Taylor Greene/Lauren Boebert/Paul Gosar variety. Lake is seeking the nomination in Arizona’s 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary, and journalist Daniel Strauss — in an article recently published by The New Republic — warns that the possibility of Lake winning the primary can’t be ruled out.

Lake, a relentless promoter of the Big Lie, has been endorsed by MAGA wingnuts who include MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as well as Trump, who is willing to overlook the fact that she was once a critic of him. An anti-vaxxer, Lake has been quite friendly with QAnon activists.

“Lake has never held elected office before, but she’s quickly risen in notoriety during this race,” Strauss explains. “She’s appeared with QAnon activists and Nazi sympathizers. She has supported a secretary of state candidate with ties to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement. Her rivals see her not just as a problem for other candidates running for the nomination, but also, for the party’s chance to keep the governor’s mansion in general…. Lake has said that if she were elected governor, she would direct Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to open a wide-ranging criminal investigation into the 2020 election.”

One Republican who is sounding the alarm about Lake is GOP strategist Barrett Marson, who is working with one of Lake’s rivals in the primary: former Rep. Matt Salmon. The ex-congressman ran for Arizona governor in the past, narrowly losing to Democrat Janet Napolitano in 2002. Napolitano went on to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama.

READ: 'You singlehandedly blocked the Emmett Till antilynching act': Rand Paul scorched over his MLK 'commemoration'

Marson believes that Salmon would be much more electable than Lake, telling The New Republic, “There’s no doubt that if Kari Lake is the nominee, then this state is in play (for Democrats)…. She’s a danger to Republicans losing the gubernatorial race for the first time in 16 years.”

Strauss notes that although other Republican gubernatorial candidates are ahead of Lake in terms of fundraising, she has been “polling ahead of her six other rivals.” Meanwhile, in the Democratic primary, the gubernatorial frontrunner appears to be Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs — who has been pushing back so aggressively against the Big Lie and Trump’s bogus election fraud claims that Lake thinks she should be criminally prosecuted.

“There’s still plenty of time before both parties select their nominees,” Strauss explains, “but it’s entirely possible that the general election could be between Hobbs, after an extended primary, and Lake, having won despite failing to unite the Republican primary behind her candidacy…. A Hobbs versus Lake matchup would almost certainly be one of the more bruising and negative statewide contests in the 2022 cycle.”

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