PEORIA, Arizona — Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor of Arizona, called reporters “despicable” for asking her to respond to allegations from the Arizona Democratic Party that she was directly responsible for a break-in at Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs’s office earlier this week.
“That is absolutely absurd. It sounds like a Jussie Smollett part two. You’re going to drag the people through something like this,” Lake said in response to a question from a CNN reporter following an event honoring first responders on Wednesday.
“You’re letting a woman who has been running a terrible campaign direct you to a story like this? You know she is running a bad campaign,” Lake added.
The Phoenix Police Department said it is investigating a burglary at Hobbs’s campaign headquarters and determined items had been taken from the office Monday evening, although it did not clarify what was taken.
BURGLARY REPORTED AT CAMPAIGN OFFICE OF ARIZONA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE HOBBS
The Arizona Democratic Party was quick to try to connect Lake to the break-in. “This is a direct result of Kari Lake and fringe Republicans spreading lies and hate and inciting violence — and it is despicable,” it wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.
“I can’t believe she would blame my amazing people, blame me for something like that,” Lake said. “I don’t even know where her campaign office is. I’m assuming it’s in a basement somewhere because that’s where she’s been campaigning. You guys are despicable for falling into that trap.”
“I’m saddened that Hobbs and her camp would try to pin this on us. It’s defamatory and it’s wrong. Her own party is attacking her. She is trying to deflect her abysmal campaign,” she said.
The break-in comes after reports of voter intimidation in the state. Hobbs, the state’s secretary of state, said more cases had been referred to the Justice Department for investigation.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
An incident was reported in Phoenix in which voters were approached and followed by a car out of the parking lot. Another complaint came from the Maricopa County election headquarters where “camo-clad people” took pictures of a voter and his or her license plate. Separately, Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies responded to two armed men standing watch at a drop box in Mesa.
According to a new Fox 10 InsiderAdvantage poll, Lake leads Hobbs by 11 percentage points in the gubernatorial race.
