Donald Trump's relationship with Republican Senate candidate and MAGA diehard Kari Lake has gone south, and it's not hard to figure out why: She's turning into dead weight for him in the crucial swing state of Arizona.
Trump is reportedly tired of her squatting at Mar-a-Lago and has even urged her to get back on the trail in Arizona, according to The Washington Post. Trump has also asked aides whether Lake's effect might ice his presidential bid in a state he desperately needs to win back.
Trump isn't exactly wrong. In an expansive interview with Politico on battleground Senate races, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell left Lake and Arizona off the list of seats Senate Republicans are keying in on, including Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Asked about the omission, he told reporter Burgess Everett that the field is still developing.
"You don't know in April who might be able to win," McConnell responded. "You've got [a] quality candidate we think in Wisconsin, a quality candidate in Nevada who's got a tough primary apparently. And who knows about Arizona."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement from McConnell, who has squarely blamed the wanting "candidate quality" of Trump's 2022 Senate picks on Republicans' failure to retake the majority. But McConnell also gifted the party to Trump and gave him a second political life by failing to find the GOP votes to convict Trump for the violent Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
One Republican who still thinks Lake shows promise is Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who directed Senate Republicans' campaign arm in 2022 straight into a one-seat net loss.
“I think Trump’s going to win Arizona. And so she’ll win, too,” Scott said. “I think they’ll help each other.”
Lake faces several electoral hurdles: She made numerous enemies among the state's political elite, she disparaged the state's McCain mavericks, her approvals are low, she's being outraised by her Democratic opponent Rep. Ruben Gallego, and her abortion stance is, well, dizzying.
Last month, Daily Kos reported that Arizona was turning into a quagmire for Trump, even before the state's high court upheld a Civil War-era abortion ban, which Republican lawmakers worked very hard to keep on the books. (Democrats led an effort to finally repeal it on Wednesday). Lake was one of the biggest reasons for that, as she’s Trump's most prominent ally and mouthpiece in the state.
For now, Trump is standing by Lake.
“Lake is a Smart and Fearless Leader who will WIN in Arizona, and help us flip the Senate to Republican control,” campaign spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement.
This might end up being one instance in which McConnell isn't the only one stuck carrying the weight of Trump's poor candidate quality in a state that could be the difference between victory and defeat.
Campaign Action