‘AOC of Arizona’: Kari Lake mocks Rep. Ruben Gallego at Scottsdale rally

Barnini Chakraborty

January 30, 02:55 PM January 30, 02:56 PM

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Arizona’s Kari Lake slammed Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) as the “AOC of Arizona” at a Sunday night rally held to bolster legal efforts to overturn the results of her failed gubernatorial bid and possibly test the waters for a 2024 Senate run. 

“Have you seen the latest one they’re rolling out?” she told the crowd gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona. “The guy’s name is Ruben Gallego. He is the — we call him the [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] of Arizona, and that may actually be an insult to AOC.”

KARI LAKE RAKING IN MILLIONS FOLLOWING ARIZONA ELECTION LOSS

Lake, who is rumored to be weighing a Senate run in 2024 against Gallego for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-AZ) Senate seat, also compared him to Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who had a stroke and faced auditory processing problems as a result.

She stated the Arizona representative “could not string three or four or five words together and make a coherent sentence” and faulted Democrats for rolling out a roster of “bad candidates.”

She also repeated the same rhetoric she has frequently used following her 17,000-vote defeat against Arizona Gov. Katie Holmes, saying that it was the result of some sketchy scheme to deny her the win. 

Lake has yet to provide any proof of election fraud, but it has not stopped her or her mentor, former President Donald Trump, from pushing the claim.

Trump called into Lake’s rally at the Orange Tree Resort, predicting she would be “victorious” in her attempt to reverse her midterm loss.  

Lake has pointed to voting machine irregularities and printing problems as evidence that the deck was stacked against her. Even though the courts have rejected her claims, it didn’t stop Trump from weighing in on them as well as alleged voter disenfranchisement.

“It’s a shame what happened, they had the machines, quote, ‘broken,’ OK — a lot of these Republican-area machines were broken,” Trump said. “It’s a disgrace, and ultimately, she’s going to be victorious.”

Lake has refused to accept her loss. In December, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson threw out her lawsuit claiming voter fraud and election worker misconduct. Lake is seeking to overturn the ruling in Arizona’s Court of Appeals. The case will be heard Feb. 1. If that effort fails, Lake has pledged to take her case to the Supreme Court.

“We cannot have the election stand. The judge should declare me the rightful winner. I am the rightful winner, and we should move on and reclaim our government, our state government,” she said.

A detailed analysis by the Arizona Republic found that Lake, the self-described “Donald Trump with softer edges,” alienated 33,000 Maricopa County voters who threw their weight behind Hobbs in the gubernatorial contest but sided with Republicans in other state races.

Following Lake’s loss, there had been suggestions of her leveraging her popularity into a conservative network gig, but that has not materialized. Instead, she has held firm to her claims that she won.

Lake has raised more than $2.5 million in her legal quest, with less than 10% apparently going to the cause so far.

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Lake’s name has also been thrown around as a possible challenger to Gallego, who dragged the former television anchor on social media earlier this month.

“Arizona has a very strict resign to run law,” he tweeted. “It’s not possible for her to be Arizona’s shadow governor and a Senate candidate at the same time.”