Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake alluded to Hillary Clinton in a recent interview, seeming to imply she was worried for her life when the former First Lady and Democratic presidential candidate mentioned her during the 2022 election cycle.
The conservative Lake lost to current Arizona Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs last November in a very close election that has spawned a litany of litigation by Lake and her attorneys, including against Maricopa County officials based on the slim 17,000-vote margin of victory.
Lake has pledged to continue fighting the defeat in court while also entertaining the idea of running for U.S. Senate.
When the Clintons start talking about you, you kind of tense up a little bit 😬
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) July 20, 2023
But that also means that you’re saying what needs to be said.
(And for the record: my brakes are in working order & I am NOT suicidal.) pic.twitter.com/f5rCOkQ6XD
"Hillary Clinton started talking about me," Lake told retired Army Colonel Conrad Reynolds in an interview on Wednesday. "First I laughed at that and then I thought, 'Oh my gosh, this is not funny. Hillary Clinton's talking about me.'
"Then I said, listen, I'm in perfect health," Lake continued. "The brakes on my car have been checked and they're in working order, and I am not suicidal. When the Clintons start talking about you, you kind of tense up a little."
Lake was discussing her 2022 campaign and being verbally attacked by Clinton, former President Barack Obama and "Soros-funded" news outlets—in reference to billionaire businessman and Democratic political financier George Soros.
Video of the approximately 23-minute conversation was suddenly taken down on Friday off YouTube, though clips of Lake speaking to Reynolds remain posted on websites like Twitter.
Rumors of violence associated with Clinton spread in the months leading up to the 2016 election, when Fox News and one of its primetime hosts, Sean Hannity, heavily promoted a conspiracy theory involving former Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer, Seth Rich.
The 27-year-old computer voting specialist was gunned down in Washington, D.C., shortly before Clinton was officially confirmed as the Democratic Party's nominee. But Fox News, Hannity and other conservative outlets spread theories that Rich was in contact with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and others prior to his death.
Such theories, which were again brought up by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson as recently as last year, were debunked as being part of a phony "bulletin" circulated by Russian intelligence.
As Lake weighs her legal options and potential runs for other offices, oddsmakers have elevated her chances of being a vice presidential selection should Donald Trump be the GOP nominee in 2024.
Betfair, a U.K.-based bookmaker, previously told Newsweek that it is offering odds of 7/2 on Lake being Trump's "vice-presidential nominee in 2024." That is only contingent on Trump, who has forged a relationship with Lake and supported her efforts to challenge the 2022 election, being the nominee.
Newsweek reached out via email to Lake for comment.
