Arizona Republican Kari Lake’s Campaign Tries To Smear Democratic Opponent With Ku Klux Klan Label

Linking an opponent to Nazism, the Ku Klux Klan, or other extremist or hate organizations or individuals can be effective in optics. One Trump-endorsed candidate in Arizona seems to be banking on that, with the notion that attaching ‘KKK’ and ‘racist’ to her opponent will assure a win, regardless of the facts.

Republican Kari Lake is running to be the Governor of Arizona. She’s campaigning largely on a platform of supporting Donald Trump’s lies about the election being ‘stolen’ in her state in 2020, and other values and propaganda that reflect MAGA more than mainstream (or pre-Trump) conservatism.

A leading Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs, is the current Secretary of State, who presided over the 2020 election — which makes her a prime target for attacks centering on election propaganda. Instead, the campaign has fixed on an incident from last year, in which a fired policy advisor won a lawsuit against the state Senate on the basis of racial discrimination.

According to 12News, Hobbs apologized to the complainant, who was fired, Hobbs said, by “group decision.”

Still, Lake’s campaign seems to be trying to pin the verdict on Hobbs personally.

Kari Lake’s campaign is implying Arizona Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs a member of the Ku Klux Klan. pic.twitter.com/mc1b5h4Mp2

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) July 25, 2022

As PatriotTakes covers above, Lake’s official campaign page suggested labeling Hobbs “KKKatie,” but that’s not all. The campaign is also responding to criticism by claiming that Hobbs “has been legally ruled a racist.”

You realize the woman you're supporting has been legally ruled a racist, right?

— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) July 25, 2022

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In fact, the campaign says, they’re “workshopping a few” names to attach to Hobbs in their attacks.

We're workshopping a few at Lake HQ.

— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) July 24, 2022

Lake has Donald Trump’s endorsement, and is vocal in her support of MAGA and election conspiracy theories — all of which could help her in her campaign. RealClearPolitics currently shows her with a significant lead in her primary, which takes place in August. If she loses, though, she’s already hinted that she won’t accept the outcome.