Senate hopeful Kari Lake has been branded a fake and likened to a ‘bazooka missing a target’ as Republicans turn on her to reverse her MAGA beliefs.
Lake built a national persona as a prominent far-right figure along the lines of former President Donald Trump and electrified the MAGA movement.
In his campaign to win a seat in the Senate, Lake has been labeled a phony by fellow Republicans after trying to tone down his political approach to winning the seat.
Some conservatives in the state have raised concerns about her authenticity and questioned her ability to win in November.
Speaking to the New York Times, Dan Farley, president of the Arizona Tea Party, said, “She’s a powerful force, but kind of like a bazooka that lacks a target. She blows up her own garage instead of enemies in the driveway.’
Pictured: Lake speaks at the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, on February 24
Dan Farley, president of the Arizona Tea Party, is seen at right with Lake’s opponent, Sheriff Mark Lamb
Farley added, “Kari Lake makes a lot of rookie mistakes and you just don’t know what you’re going to get with her or where she’s going to land.”
He has since backed her primary opponent, Sheriff Mark Lamb, in the race for the seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Jeff Fleetham, an Arizona Republican who was a Trump delegate, endorsed Lake two years ago but said he would not vote if she wins the party’s nomination.
He told the New York Times: ‘She seems to just want the limelight. She can’t be trusted with anything she says or does.’
Representative Matt Salmon, who is running against her in 2022, also said: ‘There is nothing authentic about her.
‘She celebrates her endorsements, but two years ago she would have criticized anyone with the same endorsements and declared them swamp creatures.’
Republicans are eager to win back the seat won by Sinema in 2018 as a Democrat, with Trump supporting Lake’s campaign as well as party leaders.
A recent poll from last month said 27 percent of Republicans had an unfavorable view of Lake.
That was more than double the share of Democrats who said the same about Democratic front-runner Ruben Gallego.
Republicans are eager to win back the seat won by Sinema in 2018 as a Democrat, with Trump backing Lake’s campaign as well as party leaders
A ‘Kari Lake for Senate’ poster is posted on the door at a watch party hosted by her campaign at the Foley Ranch Country Bar in Phoenix, Arizona on March 19
Among all Arizona voters, 49 percent had a negative opinion of Lake — compared to 40 percent who had a favorable view of her.
In the first three months, she managed to raise 2.3 million dollars – which is one of the strongest results of any Republican.
Lake said in an interview: ‘I meet with people every day who have not been trump players.
‘I sit down with them and I don’t change who I am. I say, ‘Look, we agree on this, this, and this.’
Lake, a former television news anchor at a Fox network station in Phoenix, ran in 2022 for Arizona governor, losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
She was hailed as a charismatic presence on the campaign trail, but was one of several candidates closely aligned with Trump who flopped at the polls.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced Thursday that he would support Kari Lake’s Senate bid
“When I’m back in the White House, I need strong warriors like Kari in the Senate,” Trump said during a recorded message
Senator Ted Cruz announced Thursday that he would throw his support behind Lake in the race.
“Kari has proven that she will always prioritize the safety and well-being of Arizonans and the American people and will not back down from a fight,” Cruz said in a statement shared exclusively with DailyMail.com.
With Cruz’s endorsement, Lake adds to his star-studded list of Senate supporters.
Lake also has endorsements from Sens. John Thune, RS.D., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Steve Daines, R-Mont., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Mike Lee, R -Utah and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Lake has also received an endorsement from former President Trump, who she fiercely defended during his claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him.
He repeatedly noted how irregularities in Arizona’s election process kept him out of office for a second straight term, and Lake agreed.
Her support for the former president didn’t come for free, however, as it may have played a role in her narrowly losing the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
In January, DailyMail.com revealed that Jeff DeWit, the former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, allegedly offered to bribe Lake to stay out of the 2024 Senate race, saying ominously: ‘There are very powerful people who want to keep you out. ‘
DeWit continued: ‘So the question I got today from East was, ‘Are there any companies out there or anything that could just put her on the payroll to keep her out?”
Lake shot back: ‘This is about defeating Trump, and I think that’s a bad, bad thing for our country.’
Just about a day after DailyMail.com’s report was published, DeWit resigned from the Arizona GOP.