'Come back to coach': Arizona Dem needles Kari Lake as they fly on the same plane
Arizona Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego and failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake often spar on the social media site previously known as Twitter. But on Thursday, Gallego challenged Lake to chat with him in person as they flew on the same plane.
Lake knocked him for calling Donald Trump's border wall "racist."
There was a 2019 appropriation for the border under Donald Trump's administration that went to building additional barriers. It's a funding measure that Democrats voted for in a deal with the then-GOP Senate. While Trump demanded a "big, beautiful, wall," he got more of the fence. Biden could have ignored the funds and refused to use it. Instead, he allowed 26 environmental laws to be circumvented to spend the money and erect the fence.
While Lake was needling Gallego, he couldn't help but notice she was sitting in first class on his flight. He was seated in the cheap seats.
"Hey @KariLake," he posted in-flight, "we're on the same plane! Just come back from first class to coach and we can chat. Happy to walk you through all my legislative work to deliver key resources to AZ's border communities."
Lake evidently refused to leave her free champagne and moist hand towels behind to chat with the Congressman.
"Feel free to say hi, Ruben," she said. Generally, a coach passenger isn't allowed to linger in first class.
She went on to claim that he never comes back to Arizona since he works at the Capitol in Washington.
"I can help with your homesickness. I know it’s got to be difficult for you to leave your full-time residence in DC and visit the people you pretend to represent," she posted.
Lake nearly moved to Palm Beach, Florida where she was staying with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago after losing the 2022 governor's race.
"While Lake has repeatedly denied rumors she wants to be Trump’s running mate should he win the nomination for the 2024 election...what else would a failed conservative politician who hasn’t yet been insulted by Trump do with their time? Volunteer?" wrote Lauren Tousignant for Jezebel. "'I believe she wants to be his running mate,' another source told People in December. 'She is working the deal. She wants something bigger, fast, to compensate for her loss in Arizona.'"
She was there so long she evidently wore out her welcome with former first lady Melania Trump. She was also reportedly bothering the former president, by hogging his spotlight.
“She’s a shameless, ruthless demagogue who wants power and will do whatever she has to do to get it,” one Trump adviser told the Daily Beast.
Back home, she is facing a defamation trial from a local official. Her latest book could have added to her problems in that case, reports suggest.