Scratch One Off Trump's VP List

 

Looks like we can scratch failed Arizona MAGAt loon Kari "Shallow" Lake off the Malignant Loser's potential running mate list:

Former president Donald Trump has long had a soft spot for his acolyte Kari Lake, the expected GOP Senate nominee in Arizona, joking that Lake would pivot to his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen even if she was asked about the weather.

But since Lake jumped into the race, Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about her political prospects in a state he sees as key to his bid to return to the White House, and has shown annoyance with her frequent presence at his Florida resort, according to five people close to him, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his comments.

At one point last year, after grumbling for months that she was at his Mar-a-Lago Club too often, Trump gently suggested to Lake that she should leave the club and hit the campaign trail in Arizona, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments. Trump has also asked others if she can really win in Arizona and if she might drag down his own poll numbers as he seeks the presidency again in 2024, advisers said.

So far, there has been no public schism between Trump and Lake, and the Senate candidate was at Mar-a-Lago again this month for a fundraiser. But Trump’s frustration with Lake has only increased over the past year, heightening the tension between the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and one of his most prominent followers — casting doubt on whether Republicans can present a sufficiently united front to win a key U.S. Senate contest and a presidential battleground state.

Trump has now all but ruled out Lake as a vice-presidential pick, remarking to multiple advisers that he would not choose her as vice president because she lost the 2022 gubernatorial race in Arizona, which he believed was winnable. “She didn’t win,” he told one political ally over dinner at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year...

Spoiler alert:  she won't win again (and neither will the Malignant Loser -- you heard that right).

Overstaying her welcome at Mar-a-Lardo like an impoverished distant relative, Lake was likely hoping for lots of face time to convince the Malignant Loser to pick her as his VP running mate, so she could avoid losing again in Arizona.  Bad gambit!  

With South Dakota's psycho MAGAt Gov. Kristi Noem's self- inflicted wound over the puppy- killing admission in her book, the Malignant Loser's options for a female running mate are running low.  Who next?  Incompetent lawyer Alina Habba (who would prefer to be wife #4)?   Parodied puerile drama queen Sen. Katie Britt (Alabammy)?  Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (um, she supported Bootsie -- no loyalty!)?   Melania and Ivanka are avoiding him like grim death. 

He may have to run with the next best thing:  Sen. Lindsey "Huckleberry" Graham.

(Photo: a love affair gone sour -- hey, watch those hands!/ Antranik Tavitian, The Republic via USA Today Network)

 

Those Burned Bridges Are Hard To Repair

Arizona's zealous Trumpist election denier Kari "Dry" Lake is seeking the Senate seat currently occupied by kooky turncoat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and also sought by Dem Rep. Ruben Gallego. Lake ran a scorched earth primary campaign for Arizona Governor last year against a host of Republican candidates, including some with ties to the late Sen. John McCain. She managed to alienate a solid core of his followers while spouting vicious nonsense about her opponents. When she lost the Governor's race to Dem Gov. Katie Hobbs, in Trumpian fascist fashion she refused to concede and spread conspiracies about her loss, going to court multiple times and losing with her baseless claims.

Lake's problem, aside from her radicalism and cult behavior, is that she burned many bridges to groups of long time Arizona Republicans by her nasty attacks on McCain and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who rejected the Malignant Loser's demand that he sign a false slate of electors. Those bridges won't be easy for her to rebuild despite her current charm offensive with them, according to reports:

"The outreach, made over the course of several weeks through in-person meetings and phone calls, is a welcome sign to Washington Republicans, who would like to see Lake broaden her MAGA base in the once reliably red state and help them retake the U.S. Senate in 2024. But Lake’s effort to reassure political rivals and onetime supporters in this desert state has been met with skepticism, according to interviews with half a dozen Republicans familiar with her conversations who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the private talks.

Most cite her refusal to acknowledge her electoral loss — even up to today — as well as the relentless demonization of members of her own party, including former Arizona governor Doug Ducey and the late U.S. senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)."

Lake has contacted her former primary rival, top GOP donors and past supporters, party officials and activists, and even a former senator as she tries to persuade them to coalesce around her. But Lake’s appeals for support have so far contained no actual apologies — and some Republicans say they are not likely to forgive her any time soon, complicating her path to victory in a state home to many moderate Republicans and independents whose support is key to winning. And as she continues to pursue a so-far unsuccessful legal battle to overturn her 2022 loss to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), national Republicans fear she may continue pursing the same type of conspiracies and election denialism that harmed her previous campaign."  (our emphasis)

There were reports last summer that Lake had virtually moved into the Malignant Loser's Merde O'Lardo estate, apparently trying to boost herself as his 2024 ticket mate. Lake belongs to the same delusional and demagogic Trumpist cohort as House of Representatives bomb throwers Marjorie Traitor Greene, Lauren "Bobo" Boebert and Matt Gaetz. As is theirs, her main goal is to always please the cult leader, the Malignant Loser; everything else is secondary, even at the cost of an election, past and future.

(photo: Lake, here seen auditioning for Trump wife #4 / Mario Tama, Getty Images) 

 

Kari Lake Sued For Defamation

Endlessly litigious Arizona Governor- in- her- own- mind Kari "Half Baked" Lake is getting a taste of her own medicine:

A key Republican election official in Arizona’s most populous county filed a defamation lawsuit on Thursday against Republican Kari Lake, the former television newscaster who narrowly lost her 2022 race for governor and has falsely blamed widespread fraud and malfeasance in the months since.

The lawsuit by Stephen Richer, a Republican who has served as recorder of Maricopa County since 2021, marks the most aggressive attempt to hold Lake and her allies accountable for election-related misinformation. It comes amid other efforts to make right-wing figures and media answerable for spreading election fabrications.

In the complaint, Richer alleges that Lake, her campaign and a nonprofit organization tied to her repeatedly and falsely accused him of causing Lake’s 2022 defeat. Lake and the two organizations, the complaint alleges, falsely claimed that Richer “sabotaged the election to prevent Republican candidates, including Lake, from winning.”

Richer’s complaint focuses on accusations made by Lake at campaign rallies, in podcasts and on social media that Richer intentionally caused polling place printers to jam on Election Day. The glitches caused temporary disruptions in tabulating the votes, but an independent review has found the problems were not pervasive and did not prevent people from voting...

The article goes on to detail many of the false claims made by the deranged, election- denying distaff version of the Malignant Loser.  Like her idol, she's quite the liar.

Lake's bogus claims have also had the effect of endangering Richer and his family:

Richer, 37, said in an interview with The Post ahead of the complaint’s filing that misinformation spread about him by Lake and her affiliates has harmed his relationships with friends, family and past political supporters. He said he sees a direct link between rhetoric from Lake and her allies and threats against him.

At a rally of supporters in January, Lake displayed a photo of Richer for the crowd and accused him of lying about the 2022 election. Richer at times has been assigned a security detail by county law enforcement in response to threats and harassing communications, he said.

Richer said he now rarely attends political functions held by grass-roots GOP activists, many of whom remain convinced of malfeasance. At one point, he said, his wife was removed from a work event by law enforcement because of verbal attacks on him and her. He said the nonstop attacks have taken a mental and physical toll...

We often like to point out "Republicans in disarray" as a counter to prevailing media narratives about the Democratic Party.  But, in this case, Richer is defending a principle we all should subscribe to: free and fair elections. Lake's unrelenting assault on that principle through her endless lawsuits and lies about the 2020 election must have consequences for her, as they should for her idol.  

The article ends with a revealing fact:

... In 2021, Richer created a political action committee to support “pro-democracy” Republican candidates — a move that Lake has criticized.

"Pro- democracy" isn't in Lake's or her party's interest.

BONUS:  Apparently Lake has a new address.  Mar-a-Lago --

Lake, the former local news anchor who lost Arizona’s gubernatorial race to Democrat Katie Hobbs in November, has reportedly all but moved into Mar-A-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach—to the extent that she’s there more than Melania. “Kari Lake is there every night ... She’s there all the time,” a source told People. “There’s a suite there that she practically lives in.”

Two pea- brains in a pod.  Made for each other.

BONUS II: Auditioning to be the next Pence, or the next Melania?

BONUS III:   Meow!

(Image: Getty Images)

Lake Loses Election Case In AZ Supreme Court

On Wednesday, the Arizona State Supreme Court rejected nearly all of delusional sore loser Kari "The Flake" Lake's appeal of her decisive gubernatorial election loss in 2022. The part of her suit that the court returned to the Maricopa County court to review pertained to the County's signature verification process for early ballots in that county. Maricopa County voted overwhelmingly for Governor Katie Hobbs (D), which is why loser Lake is targeting it.  The Maricopa County Superior Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals earlier rejected Lake's unsubstantiated and clearly false claims that she lost the election through election fraud. 

Election-denying Trump zealot Lake lost by more than 17,000 votes statewide, so hanging your hopes on this procedural review is vanishingly unlikely to provide evidence that would change the election results. Don't tell that to math-challenged Lake, who called the signature verification process a "house of cards", which indicates to us that she's not playing with a full deck. 

(photo: She's back like something that won't flush. Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

 

AZ Official: Kari Lake May Have Violated Law

Arizona's Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has asked Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate whether Trumpist election denier and loser of Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial race Kari "Shallow" Lake committed a felony in posting signatures of voters she claimed were fraudulent. According to the Washington Post:

"As part of the former gubernatorial candidate’s grievances, a Jan. 23 tweet from Lake’s account claimed 40,000 ballots didn’t match voter signatures that Arizona had on record. The tweet included a graphic containing images of 16 voter signatures.

'I think all the ‘Election Deniers’ out there deserve an apology,' the tweet said.

In his letter, Fontes pointed to state law involving public inspection of voter registration records. That law says records containing voter signatures 'shall not be accessible or reproduced by any person other than the voter.'

Violation of that law, he wrote, is a felony."  (our emphasis)

Lake has continued to maintain falsely that she won the election, offering no credible evidence to prove her case. As late as Sunday at a so-called "Save Arizona" rally, Lake reiterated her claim that the election was "stolen" from her, specifically targeting Dem leaning Maricopa County officials for abuse. She lost statewide by over 17,000 votes to Dem Katie Hobbs. Last month, a Republican-appointed Maricopa County judge threw out her case claiming election fraud, which the judge said was based on "speculation" and "conjecture" rather than facts and evidence. He later ordered her to pay the litigation costs of the defendants in the case. Meanwhile, Lake is raking in large sums from her gullible followers in her election- denying fundraising scam.

(photo: Lake with her malignant mentor. Mario Tama / Getty Images)

 

Kari Lake, Duly Elected Governor Of Crazytown

Get the net and straitjacket!  Arizona's deluded denier Kari "Half-Baked" Lake has given herself a new title:

Arizona Republican Kari Lake played a game of make believe when she crowned herself “the duly elected governor” during a call-in to right-wing streaming channel Real America’s Voice this week.

Lake, who lost the 2022 gubernatorial election to Democrat Katie Hobbs (D) and subsequently lost an election lawsuit, claimed that the election was rigged “in broad daylight” before she gave herself the phony title.

Her opponent was sworn in as governor on Monday, but that hasn’t stopped Lake from making her latest claim.

“They had to pull out all the stops and do this in broad daylight so everyone saw it,” said Lake, who was backed by former President Donald Trump in the 2022 election.

“The way we get it changed is we get the real governor, the duly elected governor, myself, in there to work with lawmakers, to change our laws, put some teeth into the laws, and frankly, we need to recall every one of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.”... (our emphasis)

Yes, that's all absolutely going to happen, Governor Lake.  Now, if you'll put on this ceremonial jacket and come along with us, we'll take you to the Governor's mansion with the nice security bars on the window, and with your attendants all dressed in sparkling white to see to your every need! 

(Image:  via Twitter)

Loser Lake Sued For "Frivolous" Election Suit

It's gratifying to see that Arizona Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs and other Arizona officials acted swiftly yesterday to seek sanctions against Trumpist election denier, conspiracy monger and loser Kari "Shallow" Lake for her frivolous and dishonest challenge of Arizona's election results. Lake, who lost by over 17,000 votes, came to Maricopa County superior court unprepared to offer any evidence of fraud or deliberate sabotage of ballots, causing the judge to throw her case out Saturday and Hobbs to file suit against Lake:

"Attorneys for Hobbs, who has been Arizona's secretary of state for four years, joined the county in its filing Monday seeking $25,050 from Lake, which includes attorney fees for Hobbs and the state’s most populous county. The county took aim at Lake’s remarks before the election indicating she would not accept the results unless she won, as well as her 'groundless' and 'frivolous' lawsuit after the election was certified.

'Before a single vote was counted in the 2022 general election, Kari Lake publicly stated that she would accept the results of the gubernatorial election only if she were the winning candidate,' the county said in the filing.

'But she has not simply failed to publicly acknowledge the election results. Instead, she filed a groundless, seventy-page election contest lawsuit against the Governor-Elect, the Secretary of State, and Maricopa County and several of its elected officials and employees (but no other county or its employees), thereby dragging them and this Court into this frivolous pursuit.'”  (our emphasis)

As with her mentor and cult leader the Malignant Loser, Lake's own mouth was her worst enemy, including when she told Republican supporters of the late Sen. John McCain to "get the hell out" at a campaign event before the election. They did, and she lost. It's a good bet she'll lose this latest suit, too, and Arizona would be the better for it.

(photo: ABC News)

 

Kari Lake's "Outrageous Arrogance" Led To Loss

The Washington Post's Isaac Stanley-Becker and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, writing in this morning's edition, dissected the failed campaign of extremist cult follower of the Malignant Loser:

"[Kari]Lake burst onto the national political stage this year as perhaps the purest embodiment of Trump’s grievance-fueled brand of politics. Her slash-and-burn campaign operation courted controversy, stoked distrust in the democratic process and earned her mentions as Trump’s possible 2024 vice-presidential pick — or perhaps even a presidential candidate herself.

Then she lost. [snip]

Interviews, internal documents and voting data point to the reasons behind her defeat: The candidate, so focused on parroting Trump and settling personal scores, failed to execute on a plan to court the independents and centrist Republicans who decide elections in Arizona, once a red state that now gleams purple.

As advisers urged her to consolidate GOP support after the primary, Lake remained fixated on a grudge match against people loyal to the legacy of the late Sen. John McCain. In the race’s closing days, she appeared in the suburbs alongside Stephen K. Bannon, the far-right radio host and former Trump strategist who was sentenced in October to four months in prison for contempt of Congress. [snip]

'It was both a collapse and, now in hindsight, it was a failed campaign from the beginning,' said a high-ranking Arizona Republican. 'I don’t really know what to say beyond outrageous arrogance and never getting out of primary mode. This election wasn’t stolen. It was given away.'"  (our emphasis) 

Lake has refused to concede and has nonsensically challenged the results of the Arizona gubernatorial election in court, inserting the usual conspiracy claims into a lengthy suit, and one that is sure to fail. She dismissed all of the calls to "moderate" her Trumpist message to appeal to independents and persuadable Republicans, and instead turned to the likes of Bannon and the Malignant Loser to campaign for her. 

An interesting fact that will be raised by Arizona officials who have to respond to Lake's suit: the Republican candidate for State Treasurer, Kimberly Yee, received nearly 120,000 more votes than her ticket mate Lake. It shows that Arizona voters saw Lake's "outrageous arrogance" and lies and said "no thanks."

(photo: Where's the p*ygrabber's other hand, Kari? Mario Tama / Getty)

 

Loser Kari Lake Files Frivolous Lawsuit

Sore loser and Trumpette Kari "The Flake" Lake filed with the Arizona Superior Court yesterday challenging the election which she lost to Governor-elect Katie Hobbs.  Following the official certification of Hobb's win, Lake filed a 70-page rant with the court alleging that the election results in populous Maricopa County -- which she lost -- were tainted by printer failures, long lines at the polls, and (of course) mail-in ballots. Per CNN:

"....Maricopa officials have said that printer problems affected about 70 vote centers, preventing some ballots from being read by tabulator machines on Election Day, but that the problems were fixed and that those ballots were set aside in a secure ballot box and counted separately. Bill Gates, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, called the inconvenience and the long lines that resulted 'unfortunate' in one Twitter video but said that 'every voter had an opportunity to cast a vote on Election Day.'

Among other concerns, Lake also cites long lines and criticizes the use of mail-in ballots in the suit."

Lake has been suggesting that the elections in Arizona would be rigged weeks before her defeat, and has doubled down on those false charges, much like her role model the Malignant Loser is still doing. She said during her failed campaign that she wouldn't have certified President Biden's win in Arizona in 2020, and believed the Malignant Loser to be the rightful President. 

Lake's lawsuit asks the court for “an order setting aside the certified result of the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election and declaring that Kari Lake is the winner of the 2022 gubernatorial election,” thereby disenfranchising the 1.2 million voters who cast their ballots for Katie Hobbs. Hobbs called the lawsuit "frivolous," saying further:

"Kari Lake needs attention like a fish needs water – and independent experts and local election officials of both parties have made clear that this was a safe, secure and fair election.”

It's time the court reeled in this dead fish, and impose fines for filing a frivolous lawsuit based on her misplaced grievances and conspiracy theories.

 

BREAKING: Katie Hobbs Wins In AZ

Following days of vote counting in Arizona, CNN is now projecting that Dem Katie Hobbs has beaten the despicable Trumpist Kari "Soft Focus" Lake for the Governorship of Arizona. The call was made at approximately 9:15 p.m. Eastern time:

"Democrat Katie Hobbs will win Arizona’s governor’s race, CNN projects, defeating one of the most prominent defenders of former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. 

Calling the 2020 election rigged, Republican Kari Lake had repeatedly said she would not have certified Joe Biden’s win in Arizona in 2020. Hobbs, as Arizona’s secretary of state, had rejected GOP lies about the election."

Lake, who received the Malignant Loser's endorsement and had him campaign for her, was one of the most rabid election deniers and demagogues, along with Pennsylvania's defeated Republican candidate Doug Mastriano. 

It's a great night in America for democracy and the rule of law.

BONUS:

kari lake furiously smashing all her light filters

— Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) November 15, 2022

You’re welcome, @KariLake. https://t.co/5jVFIprwxS

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) November 15, 2022

Kari Lake, Arizonans have spoken… pic.twitter.com/cxFxQgw3t3

— Phillip-Democrat (@phillip_USA_) November 15, 2022

 

More trolling here.