Kari Lake Blasts Border ‘Invasion’ Alongside Top Senate Republican in Arizona

Kari Lake, the former television anchor running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, spent Thursday afternoon charming supporters at a Scottsdale ballpark during a spring training game. Then she shifted tone, excoriating President Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis, which she called an “invasion,” at a news conference with Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming.

“I don’t know why we have laws in Joe Biden’s world. None of the ones that protect us as American citizens are being enforced,” said Ms. Lake, rattling off a list of undocumented immigrants who had committed violent crimes in the United States.

The dual appearances captured the range of Ms. Lake, whose blend of charisma and fiery rhetoric vaulted her to prominence in Arizona politics. But Ms. Lake’s divisive language in her 2022 campaign for governor pitted Republicans against one another, allowing her Democratic opponent to secure victory, and she could face similarly tough opposition this November.

This time, she could have more help from the Republican establishment. The presence of Mr. Barrasso, the party’s No. 3-ranking leader, was the latest sign of the party’s embrace of a candidate whose extreme views made her a lightning rod just two years earlier.

“I think our country would be much better and much safer if we had Kari Lake as a member of the United States Senate,” Mr. Barrasso said at the news conference.

Earlier in the day, with both the president and former President Donald J. Trump in Texas visiting the southern border, Mr. Biden dared Mr. Trump to “join me” to work out a compromise on the border crisis. Ms. Lake and Mr. Barrasso rejected that idea.

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