Kari Lake

—Says she has gay friends who are “appalled with the ‘BTQ+’ [bisexual, transgender, and queer] everything they keep adding to it.” Has stated that those same gay friends would oppose a nondiscrimination bill protecting them statewide, and says, “Sane, hard working gay men and women are fed up with being held hostage by the alphabet mafia.”

—In a March interview on KNST radio, criticized schools that teach students about gender identity, stating that they are promoting “confusion.” “This is why it is so important, and maybe the most important, for people to run for school board, some people with sanity who aren’t going to push this on our children,” said Lake. “Can you imagine back while we were going to school if a teacher would have been talking about all of this crazy stuff? Gender identity? It’s just so lunatic.”

—Tweeted in May that, “A child’s gender is determined by God at conception, NOT by some Woke Teacher in the 3rd grade. This insanity must end,” falsely implying that schools are somehow responsible for creating transgender youth. 

—Falsely accused President Joe Biden of promoting “grooming” during an interview with former Trump cabinet member Steve Bannon, claiming Biden is “withholding National School Lunch Program Funds from schools that don’t adopt his perverted sexual agenda.”

—Scapegoated the LGBTQ community, writing, “They kicked God out of schools and welcomed the Drag Queens. They took down our Flag and replaced it with a rainbow. They seek to disarm Americans and militarize our Enemies. Let’s bring back the basics: God, Guns & Glory.” 

—LGBTQ Arizonans who know Lake complained that her anti-LGBTQ turn is hurtful and “for political gain.” “[Kari Lake is] friends with drag queens,” Richard Stevens, who performs under the stage name Barbra Seville, told The Arizona Republic. “She’s had her kid in front of a drag queen. I’ve done drag in her home for her friends and family. She’s not threatened by them. She would come to shows constantly. To make me be the bogeyman for political gain, it was just too much.” Stevens posted older photos with Lake on his drag Instagram, including a photo of Lake in drag herself.  

—Endorsed anti-Semite, anti-immigrant, and anti-LGBTQ candidate Jarrin Jackson, who is running for a seat in the Oklahoma state Senate, before rescinding her endorsement following an intense public backlash. Jackson has said “the Jews” are evidence that “evil exists,” and characterized being LGBTQ as a “gateway to pedophilia.”

—Posted a message of support in response to Caitlyn Jenner’s ESPYs speech, saying, “I am absolutely rooting for anyone who makes the difficult decision to transition. It is a decision that is never made lightly.” In comments following the post, Lake argued in response to anti-trans comments from some of her followers, saying, “It doesn’t matter if we agree or not…that’s not the point. The point is this is her life. And there are a lot of young people coming up today facing the same difficult dilemma needing support so we don’t have so many suicides in this group of individuals. No one is asking you to transition, they are just asking for a little bit [of] understanding or support.”

—Signaled support for Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban, saying she would “follow the law” if elected as governor.  

—Been a prominent figure in election denialism, particularly following her loss in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race. Lake raised $2.5 million after Election Day, largely from supporters outside Arizona who responded to her claims that the election was stolen from her. She consistently refused to concede, asserting that the election was “one of the most dishonest” in Arizona’s history.

—Filed multiple lawsuits attempting to overturn the election results, alleging issues such as improper signature verification and faulty voting machines. These lawsuits have been consistently rejected by the courts.