- Kari Lake, a former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate, was interrupted by a heckler who called her a “fascist liar” while delivering remarks at the University of Iowa.
- Her campaign referred to her response to the heckler as a “masterclass”.
- Lake is challenging the outcome of the 2022 gubernatorial election and believes she was the rightful winner.
Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was interrupted by a heckler who called her a “fascist liar” while delivering remarks at the University of Iowa on Friday.
Lake responded calmly to the heckler in what her official campaign Twitter account referred to as a “masterclass” during the speech, which was part of a series of events she attended in the state as she continues to challenge her 2022 election defeat.
The Republican maintains that she was the rightful winner of last year’s gubernatorial election in Arizona and is continuing to challenge the outcome of the race in the courts.
“@Karilake teaches a masterclass at the University of Iowa on how to deal with a leftist heckler,” wrote Kari Lake War Room, her campaign Twitter account, sharing the video.
Lake was speaking to a crowd about the fact that she was born in Iowa and then discussed education, suggesting that modern education is “brainwashing” children.
In the video shared by her campaign, a heckler can be heard shouting: “You’re a fascist liar, Kari! F*** you!”
Other members of the crowd reacted angrily, with one person calling the heckler a “scumbag” and another saying, “the only fascist is you.”
Lake responded to the heckler, saying: “Actually, really? In what way, sir?” before she was informed that the person had left.
“Oh, he ran,” Lake said and added: “I will have a debate with that guy any day of the week.”
That remark was met with some laughter and cheers, and Lake went on: “We already won that debate. You know when they resort to name-calling, they’ve lost the debate, right? They’ve lost the debate when they have to go for personal attacks.”
Lake added that she could also make personal attacks, adding: “And I will if I have to go there.”
The Arizona Supreme Court dismissed most of Lake’s case in an order last month but they also ruled that a lower court had been wrong to dismiss a complaint about the signature verification process on early ballots in Maricopa County.
The issue will be sent back to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson, who previously dismissed Lake’s case.
He will be tasked with deciding whether the complaint can be dismissed on other grounds or whether Lake’s complaint has merit. The state supreme court did not rule on the merit of the complaint.
Lake celebrated that decision, saying last month: “We’ve been trying for three years to get our foot in the door on one of these election cases and I’ve always said we have the greatest election case ever and the door’s been pushed open.”
Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs defeated Lake by more than 17,000 votes and was sworn in as governor on January 2.
Newsweek has reached out to Kari Lake’s team via email for comment.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
