Watch: Kari Lake Gives Perfect Response to Capitol Officer's Mother Claim That She Is Responsible for His Death
The Republican Accountability Project (RAP) has been busy over the past few weeks, seemingly working hand-in-hand with Arizona Democrats who want nothing more than for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake to go down in flames before Election Day.
However, those groups seem to keep running into the same obstacle in that Lake is too smart, too fast and too gracious for their attacks to take hold. Once again, that was proven in an interaction she had with a reporter regarding a recent attack ad that showed the grieving mother of deceased U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick blaming Lake for her son’s death, Fox News reported.
Lake responded to the reporter’s question not as a politician, but as a mother. Lake offered her condolences and sent Gladys Sicknick an unforgettable message, even as the slain officer’s mother was clearly being used as a political tool.
“The mother of Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer that died the day after January 6. She, in an attack ad, is saying that people like you, specifically, are responsible for her son’s death. I’m curious what you think when you hear that,” a reporter identifying himself as “Chris” from CBS asked Lake.
Lake’s response to the gotcha question went viral for good reason.
“I’m so sorry about the death of your son, it’s tragic. I’m a mother myself, and that is, it breaks my heart.” Lake began. “That is a wound, when you lose a child, no matter how old they are, that never heals. And so I don’t want to disparage her.”
A CBS reporter just asked me about the latest desperate attack ad accusing ME of causing the death of a Capitol Police Officer.
As a mother, here was my response: pic.twitter.com/dol7OEFQaw
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 2, 2022
Lake wasn’t done there. She proceeded to put on a masterclass on issuing an effective, genuine response to what’s otherwise a nasty, cheap attack angle from the opposing side.
“That’s why I feel for these moms and dads who hit me up on the campaign trial and they grab me,” Lake said. “You can spot them from across the room, there is a loss in their lives that can never be replaced and we’re losing thousands of young people. When they tell me they lost a son to fentanyl, they lost a daughter to fentanyl poisoning — this is why we are pushing so hard to secure that border.”
Reactions to Lake’s classy response were overwhelmingly positive.
One Twitter user replied, “This is the new Republican Party. Wow. My admiration grew by leaps and bounds for @KariLake.”
Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for Gov. Ron DeSantis, complimented Lake’s response to the question, pointing out that it sounded as if the CBS reporter was attempting to trick Lake into giving a negative response against a grieving mother.
Perfect answer. The CBS activist was clearly attempting to bait you into disparaging a grieving mother. It’s awesome that you saw right through it and handled this loaded question in such a classy manner. IMO, this isn’t journalism… it’s a psy-op to divide Americans.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) November 3, 2022
The original ad from the RAP featured Gladys Sicknick blaming Lake for her son’s death simply due to Lake’s questioning of the 2020 election results. It’s a stretch, to say the least, but it gained traction on the other side of the political aisle, as the Capitol incursion has become the cornerstone of the left’s strategy to muster extra votes.
“My son died because of people like Kari Lake.”
Watch this powerful testimony from Gladys Sicknick, mother of the Capitol Police officer who died after January 6.
NEW from Republican Accountability PAC: pic.twitter.com/2n0FgeEdnb
— The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) November 1, 2022
Lake’s messaging and counter-messaging game against supporters of her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs, appears to be working quite well. According to FiveThirtyEight’s latest polling data, Lake and Hobbs have been close for most of the race, but Lake pulled ahead earlier this month.
She now has over a two-point lead on Hobbs, and as long as she stays on top of her game, this race is now Lake’s to lose.
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