Arizona’s Kari Lake refuses to stand for black national anthem at Super Bowl
Barnini Chakraborty
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Arizona’s Kari Lake is receiving backlash for refusing to stand during the “black national anthem” at the Super Bowl Sunday night.
The failed GOP gubernatorial nominee‘s “Kari Lake War Room” Twitter account said she believes in only one unifying anthem and went on to claim Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) “simply hates black people.”
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“Our girl is against the idea of a ‘black National Anthem’ for the same reason she’s against a ‘white National Anthem,'” the tweet said. “She subscribes to the idea of ‘one Nation, under God.’ @katiehobbs is against it because she just simply hates black people.”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, an actress on the hit show Abbott Elementary, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before the Super Bowl, held at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona. The song, which was written more than a century ago by James Weldon Johnson, is often referred to as the black national anthem because it served as a rallying cry during the civil rights movement. It was first performed at a Jacksonville, Florida, school where Weldon was the principal in honor of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
Lake was among a handful of people in the stadium Sunday night who refused to stand.
Twitter user Kevin Scott tweeted, “You don’t deserve to be governor and you aren’t,” while Kyle Sellers asked, “Did Kari pay for her ticket or use campaign (election defense legal funds maybe)?”
Others, though, praised Lake’s decision to remain seated.
“I ONLY stand for the USA NATIONAL ANTHEM. I have zero issue with not standing considering the # of NFL players history of kneeling during the USA National Anthem,” one user tweeted.
Lake, who lost her midterm election to Hobbs by 17,000 votes, has made a name for herself on the national scene by refusing to concede her race and claiming, without proof, that she was the victim of widespread election fraud.
She has recently been fueling speculation that she may launch a 2024 Senate bid for the seat of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). She has already met with officials from the National Republican Senatorial Committee and spent time last week in Iowa spreading unsubstantiated claims that her election was rigged.
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“If you lose, lose with dignity,” she told a crowd of about 200 supporters. “I didn’t lose, so I’m not doing that.”
Lake has also been tapped to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s high-profile Ronald Reagan Dinner in March. A CPAC spokesman praised Lake as “a rare leader who captured the hearts of conservatives with her honest, bold message including closing the Arizona border and exposing widespread election fraud.”