Politics
Lake has denied the report by Mediaite, though it hasn't stopped speculation swirling about her next step.
By TJ L'Heureux
November 26, 2024
A report from Mediaite suggests Kari Lake may lick her election wounds by working for the far-right news station Newsmax. Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
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After losing her second consecutive statewide race, former local newscaster and Republican candidate Kari Lake is looking for a job — and after it turned out she was pretty bad at politics, she might be slated to return to television.
According to political news website Mediaite, two unnamed sources said Lake’s already in "negotiations" to join far-right media network Newsmax, which has become right-wing viewers’ favorite propaganda hub and taken MAGA fanaticism to a new level during Joe Biden’s presidency. Notably, given Lake’s history of election rhetoric, Newsmax leadership steered it away from spreading election conspiracy theories after being sued by voting machine maker Smartmatic.
Lake and Newsmax both denied such negotiations were taking place, with Lake responding to Mediaite by simply saying, “Get better sources.”
Friday, Lake went on TV to talk about her next career moves, making an appearance on — you guessed it — Newsmax. Fawning anchor Rob Finnerty brown-nosed Lake, telling her that “people like you, a lot of people like you, and I know they want to see you succeed” and suggesting she could run for president in 2028 by referencing Richard Nixon’s political losses before taking the White House.
“Rob, you’re giving me anxiety right now,” Lake replied, adding she wanted to spend the holidays with her family before deciding what’s next.
“I’m going take a look at all kinds of options that are coming my way, and I’m gonna make a decision,” Lake said. “But I’m not in a huge hurry right now as I’m actually enjoying just a little bit of time to relax and enjoy my family.”
Mexico instead?
The Mediaite report comes as speculation about Lake’s future swirls. Republican consultant Marcus Dell’Artino told Phoenix New Times less than a week after the election that he heard Lake was interested in running for the chair of the Arizona Republican Party. Dell’Artino and consultant Barrett Marson both mentioned that Lake might be a good fit for a media organization such as Turning Point USA, founded in Arizona by Charlie Kirk.
The Arizona Republic’s Elvia Díaz also wrote about recent speculation from the Mexican newspaper Reforma that President-elect Donald Trump may choose Lake as his next ambassador to Mexico. Díaz opined that such a decision could have “disastrous implications for both countries.”
Lake left Fox10 in March 2021 to become a full-time MAGA fanatic and a candidate for governor in Arizona. She gained national attention for her impassioned fealty to Trump, whose bombastic style she adopted. But she couldn’t quite chart her own path to electoral success, losing the election to Katie Hobbs by about 17,000 votes.
However, Lake refused to concede and still has not admitted she lost. Her constant and baseless allegations of mass voter fraud were rejected by the state’s courts. Lake also had to settle a defamation lawsuit filed against her by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
She again lost a bid for statewide office this year, but this time it was a blowout. Running for the U.S. Senate, Lake lost to Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego by about 80,000 votes, even as Trump won the state by 188,000 votes. The loss was indicative of Lake’s deep unpopularity among Independents and even some Republicans.
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