British journalist Emily Maitlis was told she “needs her head examined” and called a “sad case of a human being” by Arizona state senate candidate Kari Lake, who lost it after being pressed on her claims that widespread voter fraud influenced the 2020 presidential election.
Lake, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump supporter, was interviewed for Maitlis’ podcast, The News Agents.
The heated exchange began after Maitlis questioned Lake about extreme rhetoric in U.S. political discourse – pointing to past remarks by Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-OH), calling him “America’s Hitler.”
Excusing Vance, Lake blamed the media: “For eight years, the media has been tearing President Trump apart. A good man who everybody loved before he ran. Imagine having a smear campaign going on about you for eight years. Pretty soon everyone wouldn’t like you.”
Maitlis then asked about Lake’s own role in peddling extreme rhetoric for having “falsely claimed that Trump won in 2020” and “call for the imprisonment of those who accepted Trump’s defeat.”
Lake replied: “Well, I’m not going to sit here and go through all of the evidence of what happened. Do you believe Joe Biden won 81 million votes? Do you think he’s more popular? A guy who can’t string two sentences together? You believe he’s more popular than Barack Obama? I’m asking you, do you believe that he is the most popular president in history? You have to have brain cells.”
Maitlis repeated her question: “Okay, so you don’t believe that Joe Biden won the election in 2020?”
Lake then doubled down.
“I believe the election was run fraudulently,” she said. “Well, obviously you’re sitting across the pond and you don’t understand what’s happened.”
As the journalist continued to press her on being sued for defamation and her refusal to concede the 2022 Arizona governor race she lost by more than 17,000 votes, Lake refused to comment, saying she was a victim of “lawfare” – that the law was being weaponized against her.
Maitlis then asked: “Do you accept the part you played in inflaming the political rhetoric in this country?”
Lake, visibly agitated by this, unleashed on Maitlis: “You are just part of the fake news, and you’re lying. You don’t know a damn thing about Arizona. You don’t know one thing about our election. And you sit there with a smirk on your face. You’re sitting over in England, in the UK, in a country that’s being destroyed.”
Pushing back, the journalist followed up: “I guess I’m just asking what it says about the Republican Party that they need to lie, to intimidate, to threaten. Is it because you don’t believe you can win at the ballot box? Why would you need to do that?”
Lake continued with her ad hominem attacks: “You are just a sad case of a human being, and I’m so sorry for you. I’m sorry that you bought into the propaganda. I hope that you’ll look in the mirror and see that you’ve been following propaganda and you don’t understand what’s happening.”
When asked if she would concede the upcoming November election should Trump lose since that’s the “rule” she is “playing by now,” Lake snapped: ” I actually think you need your head examined.”
Watch above on The News Agents.
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