Kari Lake is strutting all over social and conservative media, squawking about how Ruben Gallego is just too chicken to debate her on abortion.
It seems Gallego — a Marine who served in actual combat as opposed to Lake’s fake “war room” campaign schtick — just isn’t man enough to go toe-to-toe with Arizona’s MAGA queen. Or so we are told.
“@RubenGallego was given the opportunity to tell the people of Arizona where he stands on this issue, but unfortunately, he doesn’t have the testicular fortitude to take it,” her campaign said. “We hope that the Gallego campaign will reconsider Kari’s offer.”
And I would hope that Lake would reconsider Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb’s challenge to debate on abortion, given that Republican voters actually do have a choice in the July 30 primary.
As for her Friday challenge to Gallego, perhaps it would help if Lake would lay out which of her various positions on abortion she wants to debate.
Is it the Kari Lake who has called abortion “almost demonic” and “the ultimate sin?” The one who has repeatedly declared the 1864 near total abortion ban a “great law?”
Or the Lake who called on the Legislature to repeal that “great law?”
Or the one who then flipped yet again and lamented that the “great law” wouldn’t be enforced?
Is it the one who believes abortion is murder? Or the more recent Lake who now thinks murder is apparently acceptable in cases of rape and incest?
When it comes to Lake and abortion, you can get dizzy watching her spin to Arizona voters, a clear majority of whom believe abortion should be always or mostly legal, according to an October New York Times/Siena Poll.
While Lamb is consistently pro life and Gallego has been a consistent supporter of abortion rights, the deepest of Lake’s deeply held beliefs seems to be whatever will get her elected.
In February 2022, she was rooting for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade so the 1864 law — the one that criminalizes abortion even in cases of rape and incest — could make a comeback.
“I have a good feeling that they’re going to do the right thing,” she said during a Republican gubernatorial candidate forum. “We have a great law on the books right now. If that happens, we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore.”
When Roe was repealed in June 2022, Lake pronounced herself “incredibly thrilled” and three months later, Lake was still on Team 1864.
“I’m pro-life,” Lake said on Fox News. “I’ve never backed away from that and never will.”
Until she did.
On April 9, the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated the 1864 law and suddenly that “great law” was an outrage.
Abortion repeal helps GOP:It would rather retaliate
“I oppose today’s ruling, and I am calling on (Gov.) Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support,” Lake said.
By April 11, Lake was sounding almost like she thought a woman should have a choice in the matter.
“I never would ever assume that any woman had the same exact feelings that I had or situation I had,” she said in a five-minute video set to music. “We know that some women are economically in a horrible situation. They might be in an abusive relationship. They might be the victim of rape.”
That’s certainly not how she sounded nine days later on April 20, when she told the Idaho Dispatch that “unfortunately,” state officials were not going to enforce the 1864 near total ban on abortions.
It’s also not how she sounded in September 2021, when she was extolling the virtues of Texas’ heartbeat bill banning abortion after detection of a heartbeat — about six weeks — even in the case of rape or incest.
In fact, she said as governor she would sign such a bill “in a heartbeat.”
And now?
“I believe that there should be exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother,” she told NPR last week. “And unfortunately, that (formerly ‘great’) law does not have those exceptions.”
So, to sum it up, Lake opposes abortion except to save the political life of, well, Lake.
Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts or on Threads at laurierobertsaz.
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An abortion debate? Let's have Lake ('22) v. Lake ('24)
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06.05.2024
Kari Lake is strutting all over social and conservative media, squawking about how Ruben Gallego is just too chicken to debate her on abortion.
It seems Gallego — a Marine who served in actual combat as opposed to Lake’s fake “war room” campaign schtick — just isn’t man enough to go toe-to-toe with Arizona’s MAGA queen. Or so we are told.
“@RubenGallego was given the opportunity to tell the people of Arizona where he stands on this issue, but unfortunately, he doesn’t have the testicular fortitude to take it,” her campaign said. “We hope that the Gallego campaign will reconsider Kari’s offer.”
And I would hope that Lake would reconsider Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb’s challenge to debate on abortion, given that Republican voters actually do have a choice in the July 30 primary.
As for her Friday challenge to Gallego, perhaps it would help if Lake would lay out which of her various positions on abortion she wants to debate.
Is it the Kari Lake who has called abortion “almost demonic” and “the ultimate sin?” The one who has repeatedly declared the 1864 near........
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