Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake claimed in an interview on Monday that her past criticism of late Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) was “in jest.”
During a November 2022 campaign event, Lake reportedly said:
We don’t have any McCain Republicans here, do we? Well, get the hell out!
Lake then called McCain, who died nearly two years earlier, a “loser” and also called Arizona state Republican Sen. Wendy Rogers — who has said white supremacists are “patriots” and called for hanging political enemies — a “hero.”
“We don’t have any McCain Republicans here do we? Well, get the the hell out!” – Kari Lake before she called McCain a loser and white nationalist Wendy Rogers a hero.
https://t.co/CSKSmVNwsU https://t.co/9CpgicLxny pic.twitter.com/T7PtGnOXUS— Tony Cani (@tcani) November 5, 2022
As one might expect, John McCain’s family wasn’t happy with Lake disparaging the late senator.
So, back to Lake’s Monday interview, in which she said in response to criticism of her 2022 comment:
It was said in jest. And I think that if John McCain, who had a great sense of humor, would have heard it, he would have laughed. [Republicans] need to get a little bit thicker skin because we’re going through some tough stuff right now and we need to be able to take a joke.
McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, one-time co-host of “The View,” fired off a blistering response to Lake’s claim that she was just joking with the “loser” blast.
Kari Lake is trying to walk back her continued attacks on my Dad (& family) and all of his loyal supporters after telling them to “get the hell out”. Guess she realized she can’t become a Senator without us.
No peace, bitch. We see you for who you are – and are repulsed by it.
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) February 20, 2024
And the Kar Lake responded with:
And then Meghan said this
I breathe fire for my family and never forgive those who have trashed any of us – particularly my Dad in death.
Never.
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) February 21, 2024