Book Reveals Trump Mocked Kari Lake's Intense Election Fraud Claims
Book Reveals Trump Mocked Kari Lake's Intense Election Fraud Claims
Trump in Exile: Meridith McGraw Chronicles Trump's Post-Presidency Moves
Meridith McGraw’s new book, *Trump in Exile*, offers an expansive portrait of Donald Trump’s actions since leaving office in January 2021. The book, set to be released in the US next week, delves into Trump’s life as he navigates the political landscape as a former president and current presidential nominee.
On Tuesday, Kari Lake secured the Republican nomination for the US Senate in Arizona, bolstered by Trump’s endorsement. However, McGraw reveals that Trump often mocked Lake for her fervent promotion of his election fraud claims.
“Lake’s dedication to discussing fraud in the 2020 election would sometimes even make Trump laugh,” McGraw writes. The Guardian has obtained an advance copy of the book.
According to McGraw, Trump advised other Republicans seeking his endorsement to emulate Lake’s approach.
“It doesn’t matter what you ask Kari Lake about,” McGraw quotes Trump as saying. “‘How’s your family?’ And she’s like, ‘The family’s fine but they’re never going to be great until we have free and fair elections.’”
Citing Trump’s “friends and donors,” McGraw adds: “One said, ‘You could ask her, how’s the weather? and she’ll turn it into the election. ‘Oh, the weather in Phoenix is OK, but you can never have great weather unless the election is fair.’”
McGraw also recounts a 2022 conversation between Trump and Blake Masters, then a US Senate candidate, recorded by a documentary crew.
“I heard you did great on the debate,” Trump said, “but had bad election answers. You’ve got a lot of support, and you have to stay with those people. If you want to get across the line, you’ve got to go stronger on that one thing. Look at Kari. Kari is winning with very little money, and if they say, ‘How is your family?’ she says, ‘The election was rigged and stolen.’ You’ll lose if you go soft. You’ll lose that base.”
Trump’s claims that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election through fraud have been debunked, yet they fueled the January 6 Capitol attack. Despite this, many Republican candidates continue to echo Trump’s falsehoods, with polls indicating a majority of Republican voters believe them.
McGraw describes Lake as “one of the loudest standard-bearers for the election denialism movement.” A former TV anchor, Lake ran for Arizona governor in 2022, heavily relying on Trump’s fraud claims from the 2020 election. After losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake refused to concede, maintaining that Hobbs won through fraud.
Now running for the US Senate, Lake will face Democrat Ruben Gallego in November, in a race that could influence control of the Senate. McGraw highlights how Trump’s endorsement has become a litmus test for candidates’ loyalty to his election fraud narrative, with Lake being a prime example of this phenomenon.
*Trump in Exile* covers a range of Trump’s political maneuvers since January 2021, from surviving a second impeachment to securing the Republican nomination for the 2024 election despite facing 88 criminal charges (34 resulting in conviction) and multiple civil lawsuits.
McGraw also examines the rise and fall of Trump’s potential rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. A notorious campaign ad depicted DeSantis eating chocolate pudding with his fingers, based on a story about a utensil-less flight. The ad became a viral hit, though DeSantis dismissed it as trivial.
McGraw reveals that Trump’s campaign staff deliberately used ridicule as a tactic against DeSantis, inspired by Saul Alinsky’s *Rules for Radicals*. This strategy aimed to undermine DeSantis’s public image and provoke a reaction.
As McGraw notes, such tactics often prove effective, as seen in Trump’s continued political influence.
0 comments:
Post a Comment