Kari Lake Accuses Arizona PBS of Destroying a Decades-Long Tradition as Q&A Event Gets Postponed

What was meant to be a night spent answering questions with Arizona PBS moderator Ted Simons turned into an afternoon answering questions from the press for Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Kari Lake, as the Q&A session she was scheduled to participate in was postponed by the Clean Elections Commission (CEC) hours before it would air.

“We [Lake’s team] had nothing to do with this getting canceled. This was completely PBS, and it is outrageous that were watching the decimation of a two-decade tradition of debates that help the voters decide who to vote for, and a coward named Katie Hobbs is behind it along with PBS. It’s outrageous,” said Lake at a press conference.

As reported by ABC 15, confusion erupted on Wednesday when Democrat gubernatorial nominee Hobbs’s campaign announced it had agreed to a 30-minute interview with Arizona PBS. Lake immediately criticized this as a “slap in the face” to the CEC.

Hobbs had previously denied the invitation from the CEC to debate Lake in person, only wishing to participate in an event where they would be interviewed separately with no interaction. After the announcement, Lake held a press conference on Arizona State University (ASU) campus criticizing the taxpayer-funded broadcast station for setting an example that may ruin future election debates.

“Imagine the next go around. If the Democrats realize, ‘wow, we don’t have to sit on the debate stage with the Republicans anymore.’ If they don’t have to sit on the debate stage with the Republicans, if they can just stomp their feet and demand a safe space, then they’ll get their own time. Then PBS will capitulate and give them their own time, and we’ll never have a debate system again,” Lake said.

While Hobbs’ stated reason for refusing the debate is that Lake would resort to “childish name-calling,” Lake claimed it is really about avoiding scrutiny of her past actions and policies. At the press conference, behind Lake were two large checks meant to represent the amount of money Hobbs has cost Arizona taxpayers from lawsuits involving the firing of Talonya Adams, a black woman who was being paid less than her white counterparts while working under Senate Minority Leader Hobbs in 2015.

Lake added that aside from trying to avoid being called out for this racist behavior, Hobbs is also running from explaining policy stances, such as voting against a border wall, voting to double the gas tax, and opposition to the recently enacted universal Empowerment Scholarship Account law.

If Hobbs cannot stand up and debate her, Lake said, there is no way she can run the state and face the many problems coming its way.

“We have serious issues facing this great state of ours. We’ve got the narco-terrorists controlling our border right now. How in the heck are you [Hobbs] going to go up against them if you’re afraid to debate me here at PBS? How in the heck are you going to go up against Gavin Newsom when he’s stealing our water and fight back there” Lake said.” Arizona will lose if Katie Hobbs is elected.”

Moreover, the Republican said, the CEC was unaware of this deal between Hobbs and Arizona PBS. The CEC cited the last-minute development as a break in its shared practice involving debates with Arizona PBS and postponed the event to find a new venue, partner, and date for the interview.

Arizona PBS reportedly offered a 30-minute interview to both Lake and Hobbs. Hobbs’s interview is scheduled to air on October 18th. Lake said she would agree to appear on the 18th if it is onstage with Hobbs.

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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].