Kari Lake – the Trump-backed election denier – has attacked her Democratic opponent as a “cowardice canidate” for deciding not to take part in a debate.
The 53-year-old Republican who is involved in a race to become Arizona governor that is currently too close to call, again called on Democrat Katie Hobbs to take part in the debate.
Ms Hobbs, 52, has to this point declined to do so, arguing that Ms Lake spent much of the Republican primary debate spouting conspirarcy theories, and repeated the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged.
When it was put to her that Ms Hobbs did not want to appear because she believed any debate would be filled with “constant interruptions and distractions”, Ms Lake said she would challenge her oppondent to say that on the debate stage.
“She keeps giving excuses for not wanting to appear on stage and layout her plan for Arizona,” she said.
“We have far too many issues facing our state right now to have a weak cowardice candidate win and make it to the governor's mansion.”
Ms Lake, a former television reporter, quit the media after the 2020 election and became an outspoken supporter of Mr Trump and his falsehoods about the election.
She won a toughly contested Republican primary and is now in a race with Ms Hobbs that experts and pollsters say is too close to call.
In an her interview with CBS News’s Face the Nation last week, Ms Hobbs she was asked if she would change her mind about taking part in a debate.
“What I’ve been focused on is opportunities like this, where they can see us back to back and hear directly from us about the issues that are important to Arizonans and how we would govern without a circus like she created during the GOP Republican primary,” she said.
The law in Arizona demands that there be a debate and so on Wednesday, Ms Lake will be questioned for 30 minutes by veteran interviewer Ted Simons by herself.
Ms Lake had called her press conference to release details about a new set of tax cuts she would push in Arizona as a way of countering inflation and helping the economy.
She did so after Democrats attacked her for not having such a plan.
The state party said in a statment: “In August, Lake claimed she had an “economic plan” but with less than a month until election day, Kari Lake has not published a comprehensive economic plan to address one of the top issues for Arizona voters–boosting the economy.”
