U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake has embraced numerous antisemitic media figures in the relatively short time that she has been in politics. These figures have said that Jewish people are “lethal enemies of Americans” and “must be stopped and then scoured from the continent”; defended the Nazis as “protecting their sovereignty”; and said, "I'm not beholden to Jews.”

Lake is part of a trend of Republican politicians who have promoted antisemitic media, as Media Matters has documented. In Arizona alone, Rep. Paul Gosar and state Sens. Wendy Rogers and Janae Shamp have promoted media outlets or figures that have praised Adolf Hitler. 

Lake, who previously worked as a news anchor, is an election denier who has refused to concede her 2022 gubernatorial race. She recently announced her run for the U.S. Senate in Arizona and is considered the likely Republican nominee. 

She has frequently associated with far-right figures. Media Matters previously reported that she has appeared on QAnon and white nationalist-tied programs. She also backed far-right extremist Dom Lucre after he was temporarily suspended from X (formerly Twitter) for posting child sexual abuse imagery. 

Lake has also embraced and helped platform numerous antisemites in just the past few years:

Jarrin Jackson is a streamer who said that he “largely” agrees with the conspiracy theories that Jews are “taking over the world” and that they are attempting to get rid of white people through immigration and miscegenation. He has also stated that he’s “not beholden to Jews'' and listed “the Jews” as evidence that “evil exists.” Lake endorsed Jackson’s unsuccessful run for state Senate in Oklahoma, stating that “the Soros media attack him relentlessly because he's over the target.” (In reality, the media have critiqued him for antisemitism and anti-LGBTQ bigotry.) Lake rescinded her endorsement only after receiving heavy criticism. 

Michael Scheuer is a podcaster and former CIA officer who has been making virulently antisemitic remarks for years, including stating that Jewish people are “disloyal and subversive”; are “unreliable and increasingly anti-American”; are “lethal enemies of Americans”; and " must be stopped and then scoured from the continent.” Scheuer has also frequently called for the assassinations of prominent political figures, including President Joe Biden. Lake went on his show in July to promote her book and she mused about using the Second Amendment to stop “tyrants.”

Stew Peters is a streaming host and white nationalist. Lake appeared on his program in November 2021 and February 2023. Lake promoted her attempt to overturn her loss in that 2023 appearance. Peters and Lake commiserated about being allegedly smeared as radicals and Peters told Lake during the interview that “we're going to fight right along with you” and “we got your back.” Lake responded that she appreciated it and thinks “we’re not quite a minority — I think we’re actually the majority.” 

Peters spoke at Holocaust denier and antisemite Nick Fuentes’ 2022 conference. He has claimed that Jewish people control the media and Judaism is a “death cult built on the blood of murdered babies” and recently said of Jewish people: “Support for homos, trans, abortion, and the unchecked illegal invasion of every country on earth isn't exactly a message of morality.” He has also run segments on his Rumble show about alleged “Jewish supremacy.” 

Greyson Arnold is a pro-Nazi blogger. CNN’s Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski wrote that in August 2021, “Lake posed for a photo and video with far-right personalities Ethan Schmidt-Crockett, the founder of the AntiMaskersClub, who harassed a store specializing in wigs for cancer patients this summer because it required customers to wear masks, and Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathizer who has a history of making White nationalist, racist, antisemitic and pro-Nazi statements. … After Arnold posted a photo of the trio on Twitter, Lake replied, ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, too.’”

Ian Smith is a fitness influencer who gained fame for defying COVID-19 restrictions. Lake endorsed his unsuccessful 2022 congressional campaign in New Jersey. Since then, Smith has heavily veered into antisemitism, including sharing material denying the Holocaust; defending Nazis as simply “protecting their sovereignty”; saying that World War II was actually “engineered White genocide facilitated by international usurers”; and attacking Jewish people as being behind “all of these things that are used to control us.” Media Matters did not find any indication that Lake has criticized Smith’s numerous antisemitic statements; her endorsement is still on her X account and she follows his account, where he frequently promotes antisemitism. 

Additionally, Lake endorsed the antisemitic social media platform Gab in January 2022, writing: “Join me on Gab. So much less vitriol than Twitter and easy to use.” (Lake has not posted on Gab recently.) Andrew Torba, the antisemitic founder of Gab, endorsed Lake last year; she turned down the endorsement.  

Lake praised the platform even though Gab has been an echo chamber and supportive home for violent and racist users, including the gunman who killed 11 people at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Network Contagion Research Institute director Joel Finkelstein said there was little or no pushback from others on Gab.com when [the alleged shooter] posted or shared anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant slogans and memes. There was plenty of encouragement.”