Why did Kari Lake endorse a widely reported antisemitic?

Campaign reportedly does not respond to follow up questions for explanation

Arizona+gubernatorial+candidate+Kari+Lake+at+an+event+in+Peoria%2C+AZ

Gage Skidmore (Flickr)

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake at an event in Peoria, AZ

Nicole White, Reporter

GOP gubernatorial candidate, Kari Lake endorsed an Oklahoma senate candidate last week who is a reported antisemite and known LGBTQ bigot.

After backlash and outrage over the past several days, Lake’s campaign spokesperson told Tucson’s AZMirror on Monday that Lake “had withdrawn her endorsement of Jarrin Jackson” even though Jackson had not removed Lake’s endorsement from his campaign website late Monday.

But according to reports, the Lake campaign spokesperson did not respond to follow up questions about how Jarrin Jackson, a widely reported and labeled antisemitic and LGBTQ bigot, was ever endorsed by Lake, the GOP gubernatorial candidate, in the first place, amid prior national reports.

Lake’s endorsement of the antisemitic sparked outrage over the weekend, but on Saturday the Lake campaign used a vague reference in response to the endorsement and denounced “that kind of derogatory language” but did not state the endorsement was rescinded.

On Monday, the Lake campaign did not respond to requests from Northeast Valley News but Lake’s campaign spokesperson told a local Tucson news outlet of Lake’s withdrawn endorsement of Jarrin Jackson.

Reportedly, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix had called for Lake— as well as Mark Finchem, the GOP candidate for secretary of state—to rescind their endorsements of Jarrin Jackson.

Finchem reportedly deflected a question from the media about his Jackson endorsement.

The executive director of JCRC, Paul Rockower, reportedly told The Arizona Republic, that the news of Lake rescinding the endorsement was “welcomed news” but it wasn’t enough.

“She needs to affirmatively withdraw and denounce her statements publicly. It’s still not enough,” said Rockower. “It’s insufficient.”