She’s the feminine and more civilized version of Donald Trump. Like the former president, Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona knows how to handle the media. At 53, this former presenter of the television news on Fox News prides herself on being an outsider, without political experience, who will give a big kick in the anthill. She has adopted the same incendiary rhetoric as her mentor, violently attacks the press, and proudly asserts herself as anti-science, anti-immigration and of course anti-Woke.
Above all, she keeps repeating, like her mentor, that the 2020 elections were manipulated, rigged, and that Joe Biden is illegitimate (despite the absence of the slightest proof). She would never have certified the results if she had been governor at that time, she claims. Ahead of her own primaries this summer, she said she had already seen signs of fraud. Which is obviously the delight of Donald Trump: he thinks, it is said, to recruit her as his vice-president if he represents himself.
The ballot in Arizona, a key state which risks being decisive for the race for the White House in 2024, has taken on a national dimension. The governor, who oversees the elections, plays a significant role in the event of a dispute. Donald Trump has therefore prompted the emergence of a multitude of clones who are running for a seat in November. The majority of them propagate canards and delusional conspiracy theories. “Trump has given people permission to express the worst of themselves,” summarizes in a tweet Stuart Stevens, a Republican strategist, author of a very critical book on his party.
Supporters of former US President Donald Trump gather near his Mar-a-Lago residence on August 9, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida.
afp.com/Giorgio VIERA
The central theme of the campaign of all these candidates is the same: the 2020 presidential elections have been tampered with… They have no choice: it is the only way to obtain Trump’s blessing and from its base. “Donald Trump has won this state. [en 2020]period” [ce qui est inexact, NDLR]says in an advertisement Mike Collins, vying for a seat in the House of Representatives in Georgia, before firing an assault rifle at a fake voting machine that explodes.
300 candidates cast doubt on Biden’s 2020 win
This myth of the “stolen” election started by Trump was thought to fade, but two years later it is more alive than ever and has spread throughout society. So much so that 6 out of 10 Republicans and 3 out of 10 Americans are convinced that Biden only won by cheating, according to a poll.
“Until then, no candidate said he would refuse to concede defeat, it’s unprecedented,” observes Susan Roberts, professor of political science at Davidson College. And it’s the Republican Party’s fault. “Leadership has normalized the fact that we can challenge the result if we don’t like it,” she adds. The numbers are worrying. According to Washington Post, nearly 300 Republican candidates for midterms reject or question the victory of Joe Biden in 2020, which represents more than half of the Republicans running for Congress and for key positions in the States. Most should win.
In Arizona, Mark Finchem is seeking the post of Secretary of State, in charge of electoral organization. This local elected official who promises to restore the “integrity” of the elections has continued to introduce multiple bills to reduce access to the vote and change the process, in particular by giving the Congress of this state dominated by conservatives the right to reject the result of the ballot. He participated with the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia, in the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill and is involved in the scheming to keep Trump in power. He said he would not accept the election result if he lost.
“I will win and I will accept this result”
In Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano, a retired colonel, who was also in front of the Capitol on January 6, is running for governor. As a local congressman, he fought to change the outcome of the 2020 ballot. At a far-right conference, he said: “In November, we will regain control of our state. . My God will make that happen.”
The implications are enormous for democracy. Governors, Secretaries of State and Attorneys General play an important role in the conduct of elections, counting and certification of results. “It’s very unhealthy, it undermines trust in the electoral system,” continues Professor Roberts. Kari Lake declined to say whether she would abide by the verdict of the polls in the event of a defeat. “I will win and I will accept this result,” she trumpeted on CNN. She is neck and neck with her Democratic rival.