Arizona Secretary of State and Democrat nominee for governor Katie Hobbs was confronted at a Starbucks over her refusal to debate her America First opponent, Kari Lake.
Luke Mosiman, the chairman of the Maricopa County Young Republicans, posted a video to Twitter on Thursday, where he spoke to Hobbs while she was waiting in line at a Starbucks in Arizona.
“Hey Secretary of State Hobbs. I was just wondering, why aren’t you debating Kari Lake?” Mosiman asked. Hobbs ignored Mosiman’s questions, at which point he left, but not before he told Hobbs to “have a good day,” joking that she should “have fun being five points behind” in the polls.
The most recent poll from the Trafalgar Group from the middle of September, showed that Lake was up in the polls against Hobbs, polling at 50% to her opponent’s 45.6%, with 4.4% undecided voters.
“Katie Hobbs has had weeks to come up with a semi-decent answer for voters as to why she’s not debating Kari Lake,” Mosiman said, speaking exclusively to Valiant News. “I didn’t think it would be that hard of a question. She can refuse to answer questions from me, but she can’t keep hiding from the voters of Arizona forever.”
At an appearance on Thursday in South Phoenix as part of her “Ask Me Anything” tour, Lake told the audience that she would be the best ambassador for the state of Arizona, as opposed to Hobbs, who refuses to debate her:
“I love this state so much. I think you’ve all seen I’m a communicator, I like to talk about how great Arizona is. And I will just say this about my opponent Katie Hobbs, who doesn’t even have the courage to take a debate stage with me. She’s hiding in her basement. Can you imagine her being the ambassador for Arizona against somebody like Ron DeSantis, or Greg Abbott? We’re not going to get a lot of business from someone like Katie who’s afraid to come out and even talk.”
.@KariLake: “My opponent Katie Hobbs, who doesn't even have the courage to take a debate stage with me, can you imagine her being the ambassador for Arizona against someone like Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott? We're not gonna get a lot of business with someone like Katie” pic.twitter.com/2T2RjxdPEg
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) September 29, 2022
The official campaign Twitter account for Lake reposted the video from Mosiman, noting that while Lake “took tough questions from Arizonans” at the event in South Phoenix, Hobbs “ignored a simple question from an Arizonan while waiting in line for Starbucks,” adding that she was not “running for Governor,” and rather “running away.”
.@KariLake took tough questions from Arizonans at her AMA event in South Phoenix this morning.@katiehobbs ignored a simple question from an Arizonan while waiting in line for Starbucks.
Katie isn't running for Governor. She's just running away. https://t.co/3zG2J9qFXe
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) September 29, 2022
Lake, who won the hard fought primary race for the Republican nomination for governor against an opponent backed by former Vice President Mike Pence, said in August that on day one of her administration, she would declare an invasion of the state on the southern border, activating the National Guard.
She added that Arizona would start working with other states to form a compact, as the illegal migration crisis affects the entirety of the country, and not just those sitting directly on the border.
This news and commentary by Jack Hadfield originally appeared on Valiant News.
