MAGA official taunted by rival senator after furious rant

President Donald Trump's state media chief took to Newsmax on Thursday to rant against Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) — but the senator had a ready retort for her.

Kari Lake, head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, made the comments on Newsmax during a segment about protesters who went after a church whose leadership supported Trump's deportation raids.

"I know everything there is to know about Ruben Gallego," said Lake in a post of her clip to X. "He doesn't give a damn about law-abiding Americans. His priority is shielding people like his father — a cartel drug trafficker who fed his family by flooding our streets with poison. Ruben is a desperate, corrupt little man who sees President Trump about to expose it all. Now all he can do is wish and pray for chaos in our streets."

Gallego swiftly replied with a sharp one-sentence retort: "The one thing you don’t know is how to beat me in an election."

Lake, who started her career as a news anchor in Phoenix, mounted multiple unsuccessful bids for statewide office, including in the Senate race against Gallego in 2024. She has repeatedly pushed conspiracy theories that her failed gubernatorial election in 2022 was stolen and has filed a string of unsuccessful lawsuits to overturn the results.

Since being appointed by Trump to head up the Global Media agency, Lake has sought to largely dismantle the news agencies under the organization, which exist to combat propaganda and disinformation around the world and keep people informed in hostile foreign regimes.

She has even earned criticism from Senate Republicans for mothballing the news service for Iranians at a moment when that country is in massive political upheaval.