Kali Lake, a leading Republican candidate for the Arizona Senate election, spoke in front of a Confederate flag at a Trump-themed merchandise store in Show Low, Arizona, last week.
Footage of the speech obtained by The New York Times shows Lake standing in front of a Confederate battle flag flying inside the store on May 31 and repeating the lie that the 2020 election results were stolen from former President Donald J. Trump. The flag is the one most associated with the Confederacy in modern times.
“I'm the only person running for Senate, Republican or Democrat, who truly believes that the 2020 election was rigged. Does anyone else here believe that?” Lake said to cheers and applause, before adding, “We're still fighting. We've still got a lot of firepower to fight. We have a lot of lawsuits going on.”
Known as the “Trumped Store,” the store sells a variety of pro-Trump and 2020 election denial merchandise, as well as Confederate battle flags and flags. It also sells merchandise with slogans attacking President Biden, including “Let's Go Brandon” and “FJB,” an abbreviation for an expletive-filled phrase. Many of the products also include the phrase “Trump Won,” supporting Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Lake's campaign defended her appearance in a statement, saying: “Kari went to the store. The New York Times published an editorial by the terrorist organization Taliban. Do you approve of the Taliban?” In a separate statement to The Guardian, which earlier reported on Lake's appearance, the campaign said: “Kari Lake does not cater to the British propaganda machine. We stopped doing that in 1776.”
Local media in Arizona also reported Lake was seen at a Trumped store earlier this week.
