Kari Lake thanks supporters, but doesn't mention Ruben Gallego or her future
Republican Kari Lake seemed to acknowledge her U.S. Senate loss in a video message on social media Wednesday night that thanked her supporters but didn’t mention the outcome of the race or congratulate U.S. Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego.
The 2:30-minute message featured Lake in her familiar home studio and welcomes the coming Trump administration. It mentions the obstacles Lake’s campaign faced and is an appreciation to those who backed her.
“As for me, well, I can say for certain that truth will never stop mattering to me,” she said. “You will never stop mattering to me. These memories that we’ve made together will never go away. They will grow sweeter over time, and I will never stop fighting for the state I love.”
Gallego’s campaign confirmed Lake had not reached out to concede the race as of Wednesday night.
Still, the message offered a coda of sorts that never came after her 2022 gubernatorial loss to Gov. Katie Hobbs and was in line with Lake’s statement to reporters on Election Day that she would accept the results of the contest.
As of Wednesday night, Lake was trailing Gallego by nearly 73,000 votes with about 120,000 still to be counted.
Lake, a former Fox 10 newscaster, opened her video by noting her decades appearing on Phoenix TVs and then promptly assailed the media.
“I walked away from a seven-figure contract in the fake news because I couldn’t lie to you,” she said. “What good is money if it comes at the cost of your soul? I was sickened spreading the government’s COVID narrative.”
Lake said the Bible provided her the courage to walk away from her career, and public demand led her to try politics.
She said the “journey that we’ve taken together” has been challenging and rewarding.
“They threw everything at us: fake news, hundreds of millions of dollars, and the most vile attacks. Through it all, you never wavered, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”
As of mid-October, Lake’s campaign owed $2.4 million in debt.
She spent two years battling in court to overturn her 2022 loss and has another court matter to resolve.
The Maricopa County recorder, Stephen Richer, a Republican, sued her for defamation over her baseless claims of a botched election. She didn’t challenge his allegations and will return to court to determine how much, if anything, she owes for damages in the case.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake thanks supporters, doesn't mention Ruben Gallego, her future
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