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Kari Lake, an Arizona Republican running in the state's gubernatorial race, became angered when she was called out over her hypocrisy about drag queens during a Fox News interview.
During her campaign, Lake has said that drag queens should not be around young children, statements that were countered by Richard Stevens, a drag queen who performs as Barbra Seville and toldThe Arizona Republic that Lake has attended "countless" drag shows over the years and had the pictures to prove it.
Lake was asked about the controversy by Fox News anchor Bret Baier during a sitdown she'd used to further former President Donald Trump's falsehoods about the integrity of the 2020 general election.
Things grew heated from there.
You can watch what happened in the video below.
\u201cArizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has a tantrum on Fox News after Bret Baier won't validate her blatant lies about voter fraud.\u201d— Kat Abu (@Kat Abu) 1656370565
Baier pointed out that Lake has "come under scrutiny" for her criticisms about drag queens and asked her to address the revelations that she had not only attended Stevens' drag shows but had once hired him to perform at her home.
Lake said:
"I do care, I actually do care to address that, and I'm really shocked."
"I’m actually appalled that Fox News would take a defamatory story like that ― and we are pursuing legal action against this drag queen ― I’m appalled that you would bring that up when you have not talked about our stolen election.”
When Baier noted that they had just spent "three questions" talking about election fraud allegations, Lake claimed that she was "disappointed" in Fox News and accused the network of being no "better" than CNN.
She also insisted that Stevens had never been in her home, calling his remarks "ludicrous," adding that she and her campaign had attempted to serve him with defamation papers but found that he's difficult to "track down."
The interview did not go over well and Lake was criticized for her remarks.
\u201cThis is a campaign tactic. Lake verbally attacks and criticizes interviewers, sometimes stomping away. Still, the underlying presumption that she shouldn\u2019t have to answer uncomfortable questions is really entitled.\u201d— Tim Steller (@Tim Steller) 1656432798
\u201cNot even Bret Baier of Fox News can keep up with the "speed" of right wing conspiracy theories and lies of Kari Lake.\u201d— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf0aA Canadian \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 in Germany \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa \ud83d\udc99 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf0aA Canadian \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 in Germany \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa \ud83d\udc99) 1656385334
\u201cIt\u2019s funny how right wingers breakdown when they don\u2019t get the friendly interview they are used to.\u201d— Bad Faith \u271d\ufe0f\ud83d\udc34\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Bad Faith \u271d\ufe0f\ud83d\udc34\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1656426662
\u201cKari at start of interview: \u201cThe opponent I\u2019m focused on is actually the socialist democrat Katie Hobbs\u201d\n\nAfter losing her cool: \u201cHow dare you not harass my primary opponent the way I tell you to!!!\u201d\n\nAZ, please choose the adult in the room on August 2nd. That\u2019s @Karrin4Arizona\u201d— Troy Meeker (@Troy Meeker) 1656386610
\u201cKarl Lake Was Soo\nBusted On Fox And He Had Receipts.\n\nShe's Appalled I Tell\nYou Appalled.\n\nGirl Please.\ud83d\ude44\u201d— BlackMountain (@BlackMountain) 1656397957
\u201cThis complete and total meltdown now has over a quarter million views. This interview was an absolute disaster. #FakeLake #AZGov\u201d— Jon Seaton (@Jon Seaton) 1656398704
\u201cKari Lake is going to take legal action against a drag queen she considered a friend for 20 years. Nothing but lies and hate from this woman.\u201d— Nell (@Nell) 1656418900
\u201cWhen Fox News is calling out your hypocrisy, that\u2019s when you know it\u2019s bad.\u201d— Arizona Democratic Party (@Arizona Democratic Party) 1656430113
\u201cOh for God's sake Arizona! Can't you do better than this? \ud83d\ude20\ud83e\udd28\u201d— Old man Gordon (@Old man Gordon) 1656383164
In recent months, the Republican Party has been gripped by an ongoing "groomer" hysteria accusing LGBTQ+ people of building relationships, trust, and emotional connections with children so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
To that end, multiple conservatives have pushed back against drag queens performing for kids.
Drag queen story hours have received considerable pusback nationwide from conservatives who have alleged that they are an opportunity to "indoctrinate" children into the LGBTQ+ community rather than an opportunity to impart values of inclusivity and acceptance.
Earlier this month, Bryan Slaton, a Texas state Republican Representative, complained about a Dallas gay bar that hosted a family-friendly drag brunch for young children and vowed to introduce legislation to stop what he called the “disturbing trend in which perverted adults are obsessed with sexualizing young children."
Similarly, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio took to Twitter to gloat after shaming an Air Force base into canceling its drag queen story hour.
Rubio said it was "good" the Air Force had canceled the event, which would have featured a drag queen reading stories to young children, after he wrote a letter to them expressing his outrage.
"Violent threats" recently prompted one North Carolina town to cancel a scheduled drag queen story hour during Pride Month festivities.
Meanwhile, Vickie Paladino, a Republican member of the New York City Council, said she would reconsider allocating "funding for district schools for repairs, upgrades, and new programs" if they are "found to have participated in these activities," remarks that received bipartisan condemnation.