LAKE HAVASU CITY, Arizona. – Arizona GOP Senate hopeful Kari Lake told supporters they can strap on their Glocks to prepare for the intensity of the 2024 campaign and urged military and law enforcement veterans to “get ready” as the race heats up. in the main combat situation.
“We have to send people to Washington so the swamp doesn’t want it there,” he said at the end of a speech Sunday to a crowd of Arizonans in Lake Mohave County. “And I can think of a few people there that they don’t want. First on that list is Donald J. Trump; the second is Lake Kari.’
Describing his opposition to the “swamp” in Washington, he said: “They can’t bribe me, they can blackmail me. They don’t want me in Washington, and that’s what President Trump wants to fight with.”
“He is ready to sacrifice everything for me. That’s why they come after us with the law, they will come after us with everything. Therefore, the next six months will be intense. And we have to buckle up – let’s see. What do we want to close?” Lake asked as some of the crowd laughed. “We will fasten our seat belts. We’ll wear our helmet or your Kari Lake ball cap. We will put on the armor of God. And maybe strap a Glock on our side just in case.”
“We will not be victims of crime,” Lake continued. “We’re not going to take away our Second Amendment. We certainly will not take our First Amendment away from these tyrants.”
In about 30 minutes of comments, Lake offered another warning about the period between now and Election Day.
“The next six months will be difficult. If you’re not ready for action, and I feel with a lot of veterans and former law enforcement, active law enforcement” — Lake paused to ask for a show of hands — “… you’re ready for it,” Lake said of his supporters. “This is the next “There will be a mad rush in six months. This is the moment when we have to save our country.”
Lake’s campaign declined to comment when asked to clarify the nature of his remarks and whether they hinted at the possibility of political violence in the next six months.
Although Lake did not explicitly warn of political violence, one of his supporters took his rhetoric as such.
“They’re going to do anything they can to disrupt the election, whether it’s another pandemic or it’s going to incite a civil war,” said Geenee Roe, 63, when asked about her speech after Lake. AR-15 rifle lottery was held at the event.
NBC News asked a Lake Havasu City resident who plans to vote for Trump and Lake in 2024 whether he believes another American civil war is a concrete possibility.
“The signs are all there,” said Roe, who believes the political left is trying to trouble the MAGA movement. “Saying the MAGA people were bad, that we were inciting riots — and the whole J6 thing that happened, that was all a setup,” Roe said. disproved the conspiracy theory That the January 6th Capitol riot was a ploy to smear Trump and his supporters.
Lake’s comments came in Mohave County, in northwestern Arizona, which swept Trump with 75% of the vote in the 2020 presidential election. The Senate hopeful is eyeing an even bigger margin in 2024.
“If Mohave County is at or near 100%, no matter what they do, they can’t get out of it in Maricopa County,” Lake said, leaning into his signature talking point.
Lake has consistently dismissed the results of the 2020 election, which saw President Joe Biden narrowly defeat Trump in Arizona, and the 2022 election, which saw his gubernatorial bid fail by a slightly wider margin. Court cases and other reviews of the results have found no evidence of fraud or abuse affecting the results of the election. The lake in March decided not to contest his liability in the defamation suit It was brought by a Republican election official in Maricopa County.
Maricopa County Clerk Steven Richer, who plays a key role in the election administration, filed a defamation lawsuit against Lake in June, alleging that he “repeatedly and falsely accused” her of causing the election loss in the gubernatorial race won by Democrat Katie Hobbs. . Lake’s legal team recently filed a default judgment it showed that he did not contest his guilt. Instead, he will contest damages in the case.
On Sunday, the integrity of Maricopa County’s election results continued to be called into question.
“You all know what’s going on in Maricopa County. I mean, you know the garbage they put out there,” Lake said of Arizona’s most populous locale, where Reacher and the Republican-controlled board of supervisors hold local elections.
“We’re going to need all these counties outside of Maricopa County to show up, and I’m hoping Mohave County will lead the way,” Lake said.