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Kari Lake may not be Senate material. But the Arizona Cardinals are looking for a cornerback and, given Lake’s ability to backpedal, the gridiron may be a better fit.
On Monday, the GOP Senate candidate in Arizona desperately tried to walk back her years of antagonizing people who supported the late Sen. John McCain.
For background: Lake has followed Donald Trump’s lead in taking several public shots at McCain and his supporters since the Arizona Republican’s death in 2018.
After Lake won the GOP nomination in Arizona’s gubernatorial race in 2022, she claimed she “drove a stake through the heart of the McCain machine.” And shortly before Election Day in that race — which she ultimately lost — Lake suggested McCain was a “loser” and told his supporters to “get the hell out.”
And shortly before Election Day in that race — which she ultimately lost — Lake suggested McCain was a “loser” and told his supporters to “get the hell out.”
But she tried to make nice on Monday, saying her earlier remarks had been “in jest.”
“And I think that if John McCain, who had a great sense of humor, would have heard it, he would have laughed,” said Lake, adding that Republicans need “thicker skin” and to “learn to take a joke.”
One Republican who has no plans to do so is Meghan McCain, the late senator’s daughter.
“Kari Lake is trying to walk back her continued attacks on my Dad (& family) and all of his loyal supporters after telling them to ‘get the hell out,’” McCain wrote on X. “Guess she realized she can’t become a Senator without us.”
McCain added: “No peace, b----. We see you for who you are – and are repulsed by it.”
Ouch.
Lake has reportedly tried to shore up her support among McCain Republicans ahead of Arizona’s Senate primary. It seems like she’s having a rough go at it. And her attacks on John McCain may well be the dumbest act of political self-injury I’ve seen in recent times.
Arizona Republicans sent McCain to the Senate for three decades. That, along with the fact that Joe Biden won Arizona over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, should have been a sign to Lake that wedding herself to the MAGA movement was going to hurt her electoral chances.
But she went all in on Trumpism and foolishly adopted his petty fight with McCain as her own.
And she may pay a hefty price for that.