Trump Annoyed With Arizona GOP Senate Candidate Kari Lake’s Frequent Trips To Mar-a-Lago, Worries She’ll Be A Liability In November

Donald Trump is reportedly annoyed with Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake’s frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort and worries that she will be a liability for his re-election.

Trump is concerned that Lake will also blow the GOP’s chances of gaining a Senate seat in Arizona and drag him down in a critical state he needs to carry to win the presidency.

Melania Trump is also said to be upset with Lake’s frequent presence at Mar-a-Lago. 

The Senate race to fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) is one of the most closely watched during the 2024 election, and Lake is expected to face Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona).

One of the problems Lake is facing is undoing the damage of her attack on John McCain’s followers, whom she degraded during her losing 2022 bid. She is also distrusted by GOP higher-ups in her state, who are still angry with her for secretly recording the former state party chair asking her to reconsider running.

According to a The Washington Post report, there is growing tension between the Trump and Lake campaigns. 

At one point in 2023, Trump advised her to leave Mar-a-Lago and get to work winning over voters.

Democrats have long noticed Lake’s frequent out-of-state travel.

She has traveled out of Arizona many times for speaking engagements and campaign events in the middle of her current campaign. On a somewhat regular basis, the Arizona Democratic Party sent out newsletters entitled “Where In The World Is Kari Lake?” noting her latest travel.

If the Arizona GOP Senate candidate wins her race, it will greatly increase Republicans’ chances of recapturing the Senate, which could make or break Trump’s ability to govern if he becomes president again.

In late March, attorneys representing Lake chose not to contest the defamation case filed against her. 

The lawsuit, initiated by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer in 2023, accuses Lake of defaming him after her defeat in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race, where she refused to concede and made unsubstantiated accusations of election fraud. 

This lawsuit also asserts that she engaged in a systematic campaign to spread falsehoods about Richer’s actions as recorder, which led to him being harassed and his life being threatened multiple times. 

Among Lake’s unfounded claims were accusations that the Maricopa Country recorder tampered with the ballot boxes, placed 300,000 invalid votes in them and intentionally complicated the voting process.