GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake is attacking her Democratic opponent Ruben Gallego, labeling him as "radical" after a resurfaced interview where he disparaged Trump voters as "dumb" and the "worst people in the world."
Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake is relentlessly criticizing her Democratic opponent, Rep. Ruben Gallego, branding him as "radical as they come" after a resurfaced interview from 2016 emerged in which Gallego disparaged Trump supporters.
"Isn't that terrible?" Lake exclaimed in response to Fox News Digital's report on Gallego's remark. "He's been lying about who he is. He's trying to portray himself as a moderate, which is laughable if it weren't so dangerous."
Kari Lake Rips Dem Opponent Ruben Gallego: 'He's As Radical As They Come'
Lake accused Gallego of "bullying" moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema out of the race "because she wasn't liberal enough." The former news anchor also alleged that Gallego has "voted to spend our federal dollars, our tax dollars, our money, supporting sanctuary cities and states" and has consistently "voted against securing our border every step of the way."
According to Lake, the Democratic hopeful is "for an open border America" and has "voted to defund the police." She further claimed that Gallego co-sponsored the George Floyd legislation, which would have defunded the police nationwide.
Kari Lake Rips Dem Opponent Ruben Gallego: 'He's As Radical As They Come'
Lake criticized Gallego's spending habits, asserting that he has "never batted an eyelash" and has not been vocal enough in defending women's sports. "He wants biological men to participate in women's athletics," Lake stated. "That means it's an end for girls sports. Anybody out there who played sports? I did for a little bit. It's an end."
Lake denounced Gallego's stance on transgender athletes, arguing that "if you have to compete with biological men, what's the purpose of having girls sports?"
Kari Lake Rips Dem Opponent Ruben Gallego: 'He's As Radical As They Come'
Both Lake and Gallego are vying for the support of independent voters, particularly in Maricopa County, the state's most populous county, where independents constitute approximately one-third of the electorate. Lake expressed optimism that she can sway voters who are not Republicans.
"I do believe that independents are with me, I think we're doing pretty well, our polling is showing that we're building on the independent vote," Lake stated. "And I think a lot of Democrats, while he [Gallego] hates Trump voters and he hates Republicans. I don't hate Democrats. I actually believe that disaffected Democrats are going to help us turn the corner."
Kari Lake Rips Dem Opponent Ruben Gallego: 'He's As Radical As They Come'
Lake alleged that "they're realizing, looking at Kamala Harris and Ruben Gallego, and they're saying, wait a minute, this isn't the Democrat Party that I signed up for years ago, the old Democrat Party used to care about the working class." She asserted that "the old Democrat Party wanted a strong economy for everybody" and that "this Democrat Party is a bunch of globalists, and they are for, they want to spend more money helping people coming here illegally than they do people who are American citizens."
Despite the Real Clear Politics average of polls showing Gallego leading Lake by approximately 7 points, Lake maintained that the race is much closer and cited her internal polling, which indicates that she is within the margin of error.
"We have to go into it acting like we're ten down, but we're not ten down," Lake explained. "This is a very tight race. I'm proud of that, considering, as I said, he spent 75 million. He's been outspending us massively and the fact that this is such a tight race is incredible. Chuck Schumer is in a panic about Arizona. He's dumping 5 million bucks a week into Arizona."
Lake claimed that Democrats are in a "tailspin" in Arizona because their attempts to center the election on abortion have been unsuccessful as most voters are preoccupied with other issues, such as the economy.
Lake also criticized Gallego's pre-political career, including his association with a bank that conducted business with undocumented immigrants, a harassment allegation made against him by a 20-year-old intern while he worked at city hall, and his role at an ambulance company that was under investigation for fraud.
"The people of Arizona know me and they trust me and I love the people of the state, Lake said. "I want to represent all of them, including people who maybe don't even vote for me. If you choose not to vote for me, I hope I can earn your vote, but I still want to represent you and I want to do a great job for you in Washington, D.C. We need decent, honest people back to D.C. and Ruben Gallego was not honest before he got into politics."
Fox News Digital contacted the Gallego campaign for comment but did not receive a response.
