Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake blasted Arizona PBS for offering Democrat opponent Katie Hobbs a solo interview after she refused invitations to debate Lake onstage.
“We just learned hours before airtime of tonight’s Clean Elections Commission [CEC] debate that PBS has unilaterally caved to Katie Hobbs’ demands and bailed her out from the consequences of her cowardly decision to avoid debating me onstage. As the CEC’s broadcast partner, PBS’ actions are a slap in the face to the commissioners of the CEC and a betrayal of their efforts to put on an actual debate,” Lake said in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times.
The Sun Times reached out to PBS for a comment on this situation but did not hear back before publishing.
12 News reported that Hobbs would receive the interview. PBS reportedly reached out to Hobbs’ campaign offering the on-air appearance, to which she said yes.
“PBS has now become complicit in Katie Hobbs’ attempt to destroy 20 years of gubernatorial debate tradition. We are actively working with the Clean Elections Commission and we continue to push for an opportunity for a real debate with both candidates on stage,” Lake said.
The Lake-Hobbs debate drama began in September, when Hobbs called on the CEC to change the traditional format from a one-on-one debate between nominees on stage to a town hall-style event where moderator Ted Simons would individually interview them. Lake immediately rejected this idea and accused Hobbs of trying to hide by suggesting a format that would not involve appearing onstage together.
The decision fell on the CEC, which has been holding debates to offer Arizonans the best possible information on public nominees for 20 years. Chairman Damien Meyer said having a live debate would be best for Arizona, and the CEC voted against Hobbs’ proposal.
Hobbs then officially refused to participate in the debate, leaving Lake to a one-on-one interview with Simons during the scheduled program. However, she now gets exactly what she wanted through this solo interview on PBS.
Hobbs’s reasoning for ditching the debate all involves Lake, with Hobbs saying the event would devolve into “constant interruptions, pointless distractions, childish name-calling, tired conspiracy theories, and demonstrably false accusations.”
Lake challenged this claim while speaking to the media at a press conference Tuesday.
“I don’t know why she would think that. I mean, you guys [the media] have been covering me for a long time. I haven’t called you guys names – well, maybe I called you ‘fake news,’ but that’s a fact,” Lake said.” We’re going to discuss the issues [at the debate]. If that’s her excuse, then call me out on stage.”
Moreover, Hobbs dodged speaking onstage with her fellow Democrats too. During the primary, she refused to participate in a similar debate with her then-opponent, Marco López. Lake said she believes that Hobbs would not be the current nominee if the two had debated.
Since Hobbs refused to debate Lake, the two have appeared at events together, just not onstage at the same time. Most recently, at a town hall event hosted by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Lake and Hobbs each spoke separately onstage. Although, as reported by The Sun Times, Lake tried to change that by sitting in the front row of the audience. However, Hobbs would not come to the stage while Lake was in the room, and the event staff asked Lake to return to her green room.
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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].
Photo “Kari Lake” by Kari Lake.
