The Arizona Republic published an op-ed after U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake's speech at the Republican National Convention this week that was not kind to the failed gubernatorial candidate.
Specifically, columnist Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts said that the GOP candidate wasted her five minutes at the RNC and said that she "spent precisely none of it trying to broaden her base."
Lake lost the state-wide race in 2020 by a little over 17,000 votes. She fought the results as well as the state voting against Donald Trump. Recent polls in the Senate race show Lake running about even with her Democratic opponent, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).
"It was a made-for-MAGA moment," Roberts said. It "certainly not the stuff of a candidate who desperately needs to figure out a way to appeal to those McCain Republicans and independents she spent three years savaging."
She parroted right-wing conspiracy theories about immigrants voting and led a chant for "Build the Wall," a campaign promise Trump made in 2016 but was never able to execute.
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Roberts said that Lake has been using a “mama bear” routine similar to the speeches Sarah Palin deployed in 2008.
"I can think of one thing more dangerous than a grizzly bear and it’s a middle-aged fed-up mother in Washington D.C.,” she said. “And I haven’t even started my hot flashes yet, guys. Just wait. Just wait.”
Roberts referred to Lake as a "one-trick pony" who could have used the attack on Trump as an opportunity to "broaden" her campaign pitch but instead fell back on tropes used by the GOP for decades.
Roberts cited Republican consultant Barrett Marson, who sent a text message after Lake finished the speech.
"ONE TRICK PONY. Lake is using this less-than-prime spot to increase her vote total by 0," he said.
