(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Aspiring U.S. senator Kari Lake confronted her Democratic challenger in Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport on Thursday, culminating in some awkward political trash talk, the Daily Caller reported.
Video footage showed Lake heatedly discussing the border crisis with Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who plans to run against Lake for the U.S. Senate in 2024.
The current incumbent, independent Kyrsten Sinema, is also in contention for the seat, and both Lake and Gallego are up against primary challengers in the closely watched race.
Their exchange began during the flight, with Gallego making clear that he was looking to score some political points with a made-for-social-media ambush.
Hey @KariLake we're on the same plane! Just come back from first class to coach and we can chat. ⁰⁰Happy to walk you through all my legislative work to deliver key resources to AZ's border communities. https://t.co/4MiJHjFxoB
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) October 5, 2023
It is unclear however, whether either or both candidates were aware that the candid exchange in front of a public restroom was being filmed.
“You’re gonna have a great race,” Ruben initially said to Lake, who was apparently not in the mood to exchange pleasantries.
“It’s going to be a knockdown drag out, and unfortunately our border is wide open … and even the Democrats are upset about it,” Lake said.
Gallego continued in his efforts to disarm the tough-skinned MAGA brawler with saccharine pleasantries.
He suggested he shared common ground with his political opponent, despite having done little as a lawmaker to push back against the Biden administration’s open-boder policies as 7 million illegals flooded across—many of them passing through Gallego’s district, which covers much of the Phoenix area.
“I think there’s a lot we can still do—and we’ve been doing some good work,” Gallego claimed.
“I think there’s some common ground I could find out,” he continued. “Look, we need to figure out how to get people here legally, so they don’t go through the illegal manner.”
But Lake was not interested in hearing about the positive good that is illegal immigration, responding by citing the fentanyl crisis in particular.
“We have plenty of people here right now,” she said.
“We have millions of people here. … Our borders are wide open. Fentanyl is killing our young people.”
Since President Joe Biden took office, the fentanyl crisis has gotten much worse. As Biden and his administration focus on transgender rights abroad enough fentanyl has flowed across the southern border each month to kill every American citizen.
Although Biden recently agreed to resume building the border wall Lake warned Gallego that the Left’s sudden attempt to appear concerned about border security wasn’t fooling anyone.
“I’m going to beat you, we’re gonna save Arizona and we’re gonna get all of the policies that have been destructive to this state out and we’re going to bring in America first policies,” she said.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
