Republicans must avoid Kari Lake's 'stupidity and denialism' after Iowa visit: former RNC chair

Former newscaster Kari Lake is not going gentle into that good night after losing her bid to be Arizona's governor last November and is now crisscrossing the country in key states in what appears to be a bid to be on the national GOP ticket in 2024.

According to a report from the Washington Post, the failed candidate, who is still making her belief that the 2022 midterm election was stolen from her the centerpiece of her stump speech, was in Iowa last week where she told a small crowd, "If you lose, lose with dignity. You shake the other person’s hand and walk away. I didn’t lose, so I’m not doing that.”

As the report notes, she thinks she has a winning message as political insiders suggest she is now in the running for either the Arizona seat now held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) or to be Donald Trump's running mate should he land the GOP's presidential nomination.

According to Post's Meryl Kornfield, not everyone agrees with her about the past and they would rather hear about what she is going to do for them should she run for office again.

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"Not everyone who came to see Lake was keen to hear her rehash past elections, and others in the party have been sharply critical of her rhetoric, seeing her as a part of a Trump-era scourge at the ballot box that cost the GOP winnable races last fall and could doom its chances in 2024. Her trip to this early presidential nominating state underlined tensions in the party between those who want to move away from the cause and others determined to keep it alive," the report stated before adding that conservative Iowa voters Rick and Kate Ramza watched her speech and dismissed her election conspiracy complaints, with Rick Ramza suggesting, "What happened happened. Just move on.”

Former Republican National Committee head Michael Steele added that Lake's rhetoric will only complicate matters for other Republicans going into 2024.

“The party needs to get serious about its future,” he explained. “If it thinks it is going to be competitive, it cannot entertain stupidity and denialism. If it doesn’t want to be competitive, wallow in the mud with Kari Lake.”

You can read more here.