Kari Lake blasts opponent Katie Hobbs's debate no-show, liberal politics
Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake tells 'Hannity' that Katie Hobbs will make her state 'California 2.0.'
Arizona will become indistinguishable from its western neighbor if incumbent Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wins the governorship, the Grand Canyon state's Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake said Monday.
At a "Hannity" town hall, Lake cited Hobbs's continuing refusal to debate the issues, claiming the Democrat's reasoning is based in her unpopular policy platforms that mirror those of President Biden and the far left.
Lake responded to a Hobbs quote cited in the AZCentral press outlet in which the Democrat claimed "it is ridiculous that we are talking about [border security] as a core issue in the governor's race."
"Her plan is to let Joe Biden handle it. Joe Biden is the reason we've gotten into this mess," Lake said, adding both Hobbs and Biden mirror California Gov. Gavin Newsom in that realm, among others.
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Arizona gubernatorial candidates Katie Hobbs, left, and Kari Lake, right, stump ahead of their showdown next month. (Reuters)
"She's an open-borders globalist, let's face it," Lake added of her opponent. "She wants to take what Newsom has done for California, which is destroy that state, and do the same thing here in Arizona. And that's why I think we have a movement, because people know if we elect someone like Katie Hobbs, we're going to turn into California 2.0 and nobody wants that."
Lake added that at many campaign events, it is California transplants who are most fervent in their support for her.
"[They've] grabbed me at these events and go, 'Don't let Arizona go. We uprooted our children, we uprooted our business, we moved our home — we are here. We don't want Arizona to turn into California.'"
Former US President Donald Trump and Kari Lake, whom Trump is supporting in the Arizona's gubernatorial race, speak during a rally at the Canyon Moon Ranch festival grounds in Florence, Arizona, southeast of Phoenix, on January 15, 2022. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
The Republican said many Californians have headed east across the line to a more moderate sociopolitical environment.
Lake quipped that U-Haul is one major Arizona company benefiting from the left-wing political behavior of its neighbor.
The candidate told Fox News the Democrats' focus on abortion in the midterms has only brought back to the forefront that party's more radical views on the issue.
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Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs speaks to the media before dropping off her primary election ballot July 21, 2022, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Lake said late-term abortion amounts to infanticide, and that the Arizona media has pressured her to speak at length on abortion.
"I want to help as many women as possible. They go into Planned Parenthood. They're given one choice, and that is the worst choice. Let's give women options so that they can choose life," she said.
"They can find a family that wants to adopt their baby. And then I would say to the press, and you should pin down Katie Hobbs on where she stands because she's for abortion up until the moment the baby is born and then after."
Lake nodded when a comparison was made between Hobbs and former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on that account.
Northam, previously a pediatrician from the Eastern Shore, caused an uproar when he discussed late-term and post-term abortion with a radio station in 2019.
"The infant would be delivered — the infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother… " Northam said in part.
In response to the citation, Lake said, "It's disgusting; [Hobbs's] voting record proves it."
Regarding abortion policy, Hobbs pledged to overturn a 1901 statewide abortion ban — brought back to relevance following the Supreme Court's decision undoing Roe v. Wade — saying in a recent statement that courts "have failed to intervene and overturn this 100-year-old law, eliminating Arizonans’ fundamental right to make decisions about our own bodies."