There was no shortage of tense moments during Thursday’s food fight, otherwise known as the Republican gubernatorial debate in Arizona.
There was, of course, the bickering and the two leading candidates hugged their inner 8-year-old while insulting each other.
There was Scott Neely’s comment about his opponents, all of whom were proficient in their respective professional fields: “I haven’t been on stage with so many women since I’ve been to a baby shower.”
But the scariest, scariest moment of all was when Kari Lake asked for a show of hands how many of the four candidates believe the 2020 presidential election was “corrupt and stolen.”
Immediately three hands shot up.
After sample audits and a “full forensic audit”, no evidence was found that the election had been rigged…
After eight failed lawsuits, including a two-day hearing that found no evidence that Trump had been robbed…
After two independent investigations cleared Dominion Voting Systems’ machines and a third confirmed that the voting equipment was never connected to the internet…
After a manual count of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million ballots confirmed the results of the election…
After every provincial election official in the state — both Republican and Democrat — certified the results as good and true, so did a Republican governor and a Republican attorney general. After the US Attorney General to then-President Donald Trump said there was no credible evidence of widespread fraud…
After millions of dollars have been wasted and 18 months of searching have turned up no evidence of a widespread conspiracy…
Three out of four Republicans running for governor believe Arizona’s election was stolen.
Only Karrin Taylor Robson hasn’t ducked down that rabbit hole, though she’s quick to assure Republican voters that she doesn’t believe the election was fair.
But at least she stopped crying “Fraud!” given the complete and total absence of any credible evidence.
Meanwhile, Kari Lake continues to spout utter nonsense about hundreds of thousands of conspiracy-laced ballots and a “corrupt” election and an “illegitimate president.” She even suggested that she would not accept the results of the August 2 primaries unless she is the winner.
“We have a movement. Our campaign is a movement,” she said when asked if she would accept the election results. “We are going to perform massively. They will have to cheat even harder to win.”
So there you have it. If Kari Lake loses, the election must by definition be fraudulent. (Haven’t we seen this movie before?)
And scariest part?
She might just win this thing.
I would say that our beloved state is in a state of temporary insanity, except that 18 months of delusion is hardly temporary and there is no evidence that a large proportion of voters in this state are coming to their senses.
Election deniers lead the polls for the state’s three top positions: Blake Masters (Senate); Mark Finchem (Secretary of State) and Lake (Governor). This as early ballots for the primary mailboxes of August 2 next week.
Unless the non-delusional wing of the Republican Party wins in the coming month or the Democrats somehow perform a miracle in November, this swingstate could be on the cusp of going from momentary insanity to full-blown, outright madness. to change.
As whistleblowers go, this one should be clattering loudly all over the country.
Be afraid, America. Be very scared.
Reach Roberts at [email protected]† Follow her on Twitter on @LaurieRoberts†
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What’s going on in Arizona should scare America