OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former newscaster-turned-politician Kari Lake can spot a trending news story, and she shared one with a “hilarious” twist this week during a trip to Iowa.
The 2022 Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee, who lost a tight and controversial race against now Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, announced her trip to Iowa earlier in the week on Twitter — where she is from and, not coincidentally, where the first-in-the-nation primaries are held.
See you soon, Hawkeyes! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/kkKlaeB3sE
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) April 5, 2023
Lake gave a speech to the Scott County Republicans in Bettendorf, Iowa, where the local media quoted her as crediting her heritage as being largely responsible for giving her the tenacity to continue fighting in court following her election loss as she alleged there were enough voting irregularities to have given Hobbs a victory.
“We start Iowa nice, right? And then we start moving it up until we get to like the Iowa witch part, and I’m about to go Iowa witch on the media,” she told the crowd, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Later, after the event, Lake took to Twitter again to share what she called a “hilarious” story.
“I have to share something hilarious with you guys. I’m in Iowa with hundreds of voters tonight for a rally. There was an open bar that ran out of beer…Except for one brand… @budlight. Go woke, go BROKE. Sad!” she wrote.
I have to share something hilarious with you guys.
I’m in Iowa with hundreds of voters tonight for a rally. There was an open bar that RAN OUT of beer…
Except for one brand… @budlight
Go woke, go BROKE. Sad!
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) April 6, 2023
Lake was referencing the recent controversial decision by Anheuser Busch, which manufactures Bud Light, to partner the brand with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, leading to a major boycott of the beer by conservatives.
The once-American company is now owned by AB InBev, a Belgian multinational conglomerate.
Per Newsweek, Mulvaney is a transgender social media influencer who has more than 10 million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million followers on Instagram. But, as radio host Erick Erickson noted, those followers are not likely among Bud Light’s key demographic.
“Is the Bud Light thing an April Fool’s joke? I mean it is trash beer, but given the constituent demo of Bud Light drinkers, it seems like a terrible marketing thing,” Erickson tweeted.
Is the Bud Light thing an April Fool's joke? I mean it is trash beer, but given the constituent demo of Bud Light drinkers, it seems like a terrible marketing thing.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) April 2, 2023
The Arizona Supreme Court declined last month to hear parts of Lake’s appeal over the gubernatorial race from November’s midterms. However, the state’s highest court did revive a claim that was dismissed by a trial court regarding the signature verification process in Maricopa County.
In a newly filed briefing, Lake’s team doubled down at the state Supreme Court on her claim that there are 35,563 ballots that were unaccounted for and allegedly showed up in Maricopa County’s final total in November’s midterm election.
The court also ordered Lake to file a response to Hobbs’ and Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ motions asking the court to sanction Lake for claiming in her brief “the undisputed fact that 35,563 unaccounted-for ballots were added to the total of ballots at a third-party processing facility.”
The justices concluded, “The record does not reflect that 35,563 unaccounted ballots were added to the total count. The motions for sanctions will be considered in due course.”
The motion over the alleged 35,563 is critical because it exceeds Hobbs’ roughly 17,000 vote margin of victory.
In late March, the Arizona Supreme Court granted Lake’s motion to revive the claim regarding the signature verification process in Maricopa County.
“In an order Wednesday, the state’s highest court said a lower court erroneously dismissed Lake’s claim challenging the application of signature verification procedures on early ballots in Maricopa County. The court sent the claim back to a trial court to consider,” the Associated Press reported.
“In her challenge, the former TV anchor focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of the state’s voters. The defective printers produced ballots that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators at polling places. Lines backed up in some areas amid the confusion. Lake alleged ballot printer problems were the result of intentional misconduct,” the outlet added.
The AP continued: “In mid-February, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected Lake’s assertions, concluding she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote. The appeals court noted that even a witness called to testify on Lake’s behalf confirmed ballots that couldn’t initially be read at polling places may ultimately have been counted. And while a pollster testified that the polling place problems disenfranchised enough voters to change the election’s outcome, the appeals court said his conclusion was baseless.”
