Kari Lake’s effort to 'paper over her extremism' is drawing 'mockery and rebuke': analysis

Before Tuesday, March 5, Arizona voters were wondering if their state would see a three-way U.S. Senate race in 2024. But when Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) announced that she will not be seeking reelection, they knew that they would most likely be seeing a two-way competition between the major parties' frontrunners: liberal Rep. Ruben Gallego and far-right MAGA Republican Kari Lake.

Gallego has plenty of political ammunition against Lake, a conspiracy theorist who promoted the false, repeatedly debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. Lake also falsely claimed that Democratic now-Gov. Katie Hobbs stole Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial election from — another lie that election officials have thoroughly debunked.

But Lake appears to be toning down her more inflammatory rhetoric.

READ MORE:Haley staffer references Meghan McCain in jab at Kari Lake

In a ReidOut Blog opinion column published on March 6, MSNBC's Ja'han Jones describes "election denier" Lake's "all-out sprint trying to distance herself from her extreme, antidemocratic views."

"Lake's team has been hard at work trying to paper over her extremism in recent weeks," Jones observes. "On Monday, her lawyer withdrew a notice that Lake would appeal after losing her third lawsuit challenging her election loss. Lake had sought access to more than 1 million ballot envelopes, but now, she doesn't want to move forward with the charade."

Lake's over-the-top antics have been slammed on both the left and the right. After Lake lost to Hobbs, two well-known conservatives — former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) and GOP activist Meghan McCain — were gloating.

"Some of Lake's attempted backpedaling has earned mockery and rebuke," Jones notes. "This was clearest when she tried to trivialize her attacks on the late Sen. John McCain, seemingly out of concern that his Republican allies won't back her in November. The unmistakable resentment from Meghan McCain, the senator's daughter, in response was just a peek into the struggles that Lake is likely to face in winning over non-MAGA voters this fall."

READ MORE: Watch: Bernie Sanders tells Colbert why he 'will not miss Kyrsten Sinema at all'

At a 2022 gathering, Lake told "McCain Republicans" to "get the hell out." But recently, Lake claimed that those comments were "in jest" — a claim that Meghan McCain obviously isn't buying.

On February 20, McCain tweeted, "Kari Lake is trying to walk back her continued attacks on my Dad (& family) and all of his loyal supporters after telling them to 'get the hell out.' Guess she realized she can't become a Senator without us. No peace, b----. We see you for who you are - and are repulsed by it."

Jones points out that Lake, according to the Arizona Mirror, was recently photographed with Wade Searle, an ally of white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

"Further complicating things is the fact that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., just announced that she won't be running for re-election," the columnist writes. "That means non-MAGA voters will have a clear choice between Lake — assuming she wins her primary — and the Democratic opponent, which is almost certainly going to be Rep. Ruben Gallego, who has lots of name recognition in the state as a member of Arizona's congressional delegation. Not a great political outlook for right-wingers when it comes to this Senate race."

READ MORE: 'No peace': Meghan McCain slams Kari Lake’s attempt to retract insult to her father

Read Ja'han Jones' full MSNBC column at this link.