Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has filed paperwork to run for U.S. Senate, but she has given conflicting statements on her opinion of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Lake has yet to officially announce her campaign, but she took the first steps when she filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday. Earlier this year, Lake criticized McConnell’s mental fortitude following his inexplicable freeze during a press conference in July.
During an August appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Lake questioned whether the 81-year-old McConnell should be making campaign decisions for the Republican Party.
“There’s something medically-when you freeze up like that and they have to, like, take your body and move it away from the podium,” Lake said. “Something’s going on there, and he’s going make all the decisions about who represents the people of Arizona? I don’t know, that doesn’t make sense to me, Steve.”
But when pressed on her words on “The Garret Lewis Show” last week, Lake walked back her comments and clarified that she would back McConnell only if it is him against Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
“Well, I think everyone knows I’ve had disagreements with Mitch McConnell,” Lake said. “The realistic question is, between McConnell and Schumer, who are you going to support? Because that’s the realistic vote. That’s the realistic vote that’s going to be before us. And I’m obviously not going to support Schumer. I disagree with McConnell on many, many things.”
As the Senate minority leader, McConnell is the chief representative of the Republican Party in Congress. This position gives McConnell the power to control where money is allocated during elections. Since the Arizona Senate race is currently considered a toss-up, Lake’s campaign could be instrumental in determining which party holds a majority in the Senate.
More recently, Lake has warmed up to Republican higher-ups; she is slated to meet with GOP leadership in Washington D.C. next week.
“I’d like to meet them to show them that I’m a very reasonable person who loves my state,” Lake told the Wall Street Journal.
Lake is a far-right conservative who has closely positioned herself with former President Donald Trump, who endorsed her failed campaign for governor in 2022. She narrowly lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs by a vote of 50.3% to 49.6%.