MSNBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard confronted Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake over her baseless claim she had detected "some stealing" ahead of this year's midterm elections.
Lake said “we’re already detecting some stealing going on” and she’s “not gonna let them steal an election." Her unsupported claims received pushback from Hillyard, who noted despite her claims she has not "even laid out any fraud or irregularities."
She went on to accuse Hillyard of working for "MSDNC" after saying he is the "last person on the planet Earth I would tell about what we discovered."
A visibly annoyed Hillyard challenged her further, noting despite her claim she had discovered a crime, she had no interest in "reporting it to the authorities."
You can watch their exchange in the video below.
\u201cWATCH: @VaughnHillyard confronts Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake over her unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud https://t.co/9rEcrr4IiE\u201d— MSNBC (@MSNBC) 1659452780
Hillyard later took to Twitter to note that though Lake "has been contending for weeks" that "their [sic] is fraud and irregularities" in the primary," she has been altogether unable to present specific evidence to support her claims that the election is rife with fraud and abuse.
\u201cKari Lake has been contending for weeks now their is fraud & irregularities in her *primary* election \u2014 yet, below, she\u2019s unable to offer a single specific allegation & refuses to answer why she wouldn\u2019t take such intel to authorities.\u201d— Vaughn Hillyard (@Vaughn Hillyard) 1659453353
Hillyard also pointed out that election officials in Arizona have not yet received "any concerns or allegations from Lake or her campaign."
\u201cElections officials from the AZ Sec. Of State\u2019s Office & the Maricopa County elections department say, as of midday today, they had yet to receive any concerns or allegations from Lake or her campaign.\u201d— Vaughn Hillyard (@Vaughn Hillyard) 1659469687
Lake has been criticized after footage of her encounter with Hillyard went viral.
\u201cSoooo....now that Kari Lake is leading in the polls, does she STILL think that the election is rigged w/fraud?\u201d— Curtrice Scott (@Curtrice Scott) 1659530051
\u201cKari Lake claimed fraud when she was losing. Will the fraud miraculously disappear if she wins? How stupid are #Republican voters to not confront candidates when they blatantly lie like this?\n\n#RepublicansAreDestroyingAmerica #VoteBlue2022 #DemVoice1 #BlueVoices\u201d— ElisaResists \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udcaa (@ElisaResists \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udcaa) 1659534877
\u201cEvery MAGA on the ballot that LOSES will claim voter fraud every time now without any evidence \n\nThis is who they are\u201d— KM (@KM) 1659525655
\u201cThe level of kleptocratic flim flam that @KariLake pukes all over the mic in this clip is astounding.\n\nNot only is she a pathetic liar. But the base immorality of saying you have \u201cevidence\u201d and refusing to say what it is points to a cavernous lack of character.\u201d— Hal Sparks (@Hal Sparks) 1659496036
\u201c- Refers to herself in the first-person. \u2611\ufe0f\n- Calls MSNBC "MSDNC" \u2611\ufe0f\n- Claims voter fraud before a single vote is cast \u2611\ufe0f\n- Knows there's "Crime" but won't tell us what it is \u2611\ufe0f\n\nShe's certainly checking all the GOP boxes: Lying while playing the victimhood card. #tRump_Wannabe\ud83e\udd22\u201d— Mark Hamill (@Mark Hamill) 1659501481
\u201cnone of these people like kari lake have any real evidence, it's just a hoax they smirk about. same thing Sartre said about antisemites and their rhetorical games and dancing around\u201d— /\ud83d\udcf7 \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc31 \ud835\udc1c\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc30 \ud83d\udcf7/ (@/\ud83d\udcf7 \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc31 \ud835\udc1c\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc30 \ud83d\udcf7/) 1659502155
\u201cShe actually states that she is already aware of a irregularities. Really? That\u2019s straight crazy. Is she self aware?\u201d— UncleMau (@UncleMau) 1659503873
Lake has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, whose falsehoods about the integrity of the 2020 general election she has continued to parrot. She has called for imprisoning Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on baseless and unspecified allegations of criminality related to the 2020 election.
Earlier this year, Lake described herself as a "Trump candidate," aligning herself with him and his lies to further her own candidacy. She has long backed the insurrectionists who attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 on the false premise the election had been stolen.
Lake has attracted support from right-wing extremists, appearing with a Nazi sympathizer and QAnon-linked activists at campaign events.
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David Cohen