Republican Kari Lake says she is “open” to challenging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to a debate to compare his “communist” Democratic policies to the “America First” platform on which she is running for Senate.
“I would be open to that because I would like to show how disastrous the Democrats’ policies are,” Lake responded in an exclusive interview with this week.
“I mean, this is the guy who almost single-handedly destroyed California.” And I know this because there are literally tens of thousands of Californians who fled California and moved to Arizona, many of whom voted for me in the last election voted. And told me they just improved their lives, sold everything and left because of Gavin Newsom.’
According to the U.S. Census, Californians are moving to Arizona in large numbers. In 2021, 69,000 Californians moved to Arizona and in 2022, 74,000 moved across state lines.
Californians are fleeing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state in large numbers
In 2021, 69,000 Californians moved to Arizona and in 2022, 74,000 moved across state lines
Republican Kari Lake says she is “open” to challenging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to a debate
It also raises the question of whether the large number of new Arizonans are Democrats coming from the deep blue state or conservatives running away from the state’s more progressive politics.
The mass exodus from California could also impact the results of the 2024 election. Arizona was won by Joe Biden in 2020 by a margin of just 10,000 votes against Donald Trump.
“I wouldn’t shy away from debating him because I think that when it comes to America First policies and what I would talk about and explain to the American people, compared to his communist policies in California “I believe that the people who have destroyed this state would win hands down,” Lake, a Trump ally, continued.
“And in the process we would galvanize a few people to come out and vote for the America First candidates.”
Newsom’s office did not respond whether he would consider debating Lake in the future.
The “America First” platform is a campaign slogan used by former President Donald Trump in 2016 and currently during his re-election bid in 2024.
Trump and Lake are close – she told that the two talk “regularly.”
“I consider him a good friend. More importantly, I have great admiration for him. “I think he really was a great president and we desperately need him back now,” she added.
Lake has made trips to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Florida for fundraisers.
Trump is a big fan of the outspoken Republican and has already supported her race.
“When I’m back in the White House, I need strong fighters like Kari in the Senate.” She’s a fighter. She is strong and she is good. “She has a big heart by the way,” he said in a post on Truth Social last month.
Lake has also been considered a potential candidate for Trump’s vice presidential nomination, but says she is currently focused on winning her race in Arizona.
However, her response did not completely rule out her ever joining a future Trump administration or cabinet.
“I will do everything I can to help my country and Arizona where I can be helped best.” “Right now I believe that is the U.S. Senate,” she told .
The Senate candidate also said she believes Democrats are working behind the scenes to find an alternative to Biden because they are “ashamed” of him.
“The politicians in D.C. – the Democrats – know he can’t get them over the finish line. And I think they’re going to try to maybe find other alternatives to Joe Biden in the hopes that someone might win,” he said she told .
Newsom is considered a potential future presidential candidate and the Democrat has increased his domestic and international travel.
Last month he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China to discuss the climate crisis. He had recently traveled to Israel following the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on innocent civilians on October 7th.
The “America First” platform was launched by former President Donald Trump
Donald Trump and Kari Lake have a close working relationship, she says
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Gavin Newsom in China in October
Lake has never held public office herself and worked as a news anchor for years before running for governor.
“I have been working in the media for 30 years. “I understand how it works,” she said of Biden’s re-election bid.
Lake suggested it was doomed because the press was even starting to become more critical of Biden, from whom it usually takes “marching orders.”
“But at the end of the day, all of the Democrats’ policies are just disastrous, and I don’t think it matters who they bring in.”