Here’s what Kari Lake said about abortion, Ukraine, border, more in wide-ranging interview

PHOENIX – Arizona U.S. Senate hopeful Kari Lake discussed her views on abortion, the war in Ukraine, border security and more in a wide-ranging radio interview Monday.

Lake, the losing 2022 Republican candidate for governor, is considered the front-runner for the GOP nomination in this year’s race for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat.

Here’s a recap of her exclusive 20-minute Presidents Day interview with KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos:

Should there be a national abortion ban?

When it comes to abortion, Lake said she would not vote for a national ban on the procedure now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and the states have authority over the issue.

“I support what the people of Arizona support,” she said. “At the end of the day we’re going to have 50 different laws. I don’t believe in a federal ban.”

However, she said she opposes pills taken at home that induce abortions.

She added: “We need to do more to provide options to support the family.”

War in Ukraine: ‘It’s over, it’s lost’

On the war in Ukraine, Lake said it’s foolish to think Russia can be defeated in the conflict unless NATO troops get involved, something she would never support.

“I think when it comes to Ukraine, the people of this country are tired of pouring their hard-earned money into it. I mean, it’s very obvious when the spring offensive went nowhere in Ukraine that that war was lost. You’d have to be a fool to think it’s still salvageable. The only way it could be is if we want to send NATO troops on the ground into Ukraine,” she said.

“It’s over, it’s lost. And I will never vote, by the way, to send NATO troops into Ukraine. The only question is how many more people are going to get killed.”

Revisiting claims of a stolen election

Lake, a former TV news anchor who rose political prominence as a fervent supporter of Donald Trump, has a history of pushing unproven claims that the 2022 race for governor was stolen from her. She also filed multiple unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the results of her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs. When asked about her claims and legal actions, Lake said she doesn’t want to look backward.

“I want to look forward, and these lawsuits are meant to make sure that going forward our elections are strong, that the people of Arizona have faith in them,” she said. “And right now, when you look at … polling and you talk to people on the streets … Arizonans are deeply concerned about our elections and the integrity of our elections.”

When pressed to say who stole the election from her, she acknowledged that she didn’t know.

“I don’t know who exactly stole the election, but there are a lot of people who are running elections poorly, and we’ve seen the results,” she said.

Would Lake have supported Senate border bill?

Lake said that while “it’s better to do something” about the border, she would not have supported the national security and immigration reform bill recently killed by Senate Republicans.

She said President Joe Biden should reinstate Trump’s border policies.

“I will never just go, ‘I’m going to approve this legislation, vote for this legislation because it’s good enough.’ We’ve got to have good legislation coming out,” she said.

A bipartisan group of senators negotiated the $118 billion security bill, which included about $20 million for immigration enforcement along with aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies.

“The American people are sick and tired of what they’re seeing on that border, and to have to tie it up with the behemoth $118 billion package where we’re sending $90 billion dollars overseas to kill people in order to get nothing for the border is not acceptable,” Lake said.

The legislation wouldn’t have done “nothing for the border.” In addition to the funding for security, it would have overhauled the asylum system with tougher standards and faster enforcement and closed the border to asylum seekers when migrant encounters were at high levels.

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