53-year-old Lake is not embarrassed by this nickname: “You can call me Trump in a dress, whatever you want.”
Just as Trump capitalized on his media presence to enter politics, the Republican candidate has done the same through her successful career as a Fox News anchor, using her ideological affinity with Trump to push her candidacy for Arizona governor.
Like his mentor, Lake disqualified Democratic opponent Cathy Hobbs from the November 8 election. Under the motto “Arizona First,” Lake won the enthusiastic supporters of the former president, who was defeated in 2020 by Democrat Joe Biden.
“We are gathered in this beautiful place to make sure we take back our country,” Lake said at a packed evangelical church in Phoenix.
Immigration, crime and alleged electoral fraud are the themes that take center stage in the speech of this woman, who some analysts already see as the obvious candidate to fight alongside Trump in the 2024 presidential election if the former president runs for president.
“She gave up a 30-year career in television to serve the people of Arizona. It means something,” says one supporter, John Mandibles, at one of her rallies.
The connection between Lake and his followers is so deep that he does not even suffer from potential disagreements with his electorate. “It’s authentic,” praises Jo Glubman, who will vote for Lake even though she opposes the criminalization of abortion, which is very important for the candidate.
“I believe in everything she defends (…) She wants a wall on the border,” the voter said.
Cary Lake grew up in rural Iowa, in the heart of the United States, and is the youngest of nine children of a teacher father and nurse mother. Mother of two children, Christian faith, wears a cross around her neck.
Her aesthetic reveals her TV experience with impeccable haircuts, warm-toned makeup, and tailored dresses. “This is the new face of MAGA Republicanism,” says political scientist Gina Woodall, referring to the “Make America Great Again” slogan coined by Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential candidacy.
“She makes Trumpism less extreme in the way she talks,” argues the Arizona State University professor, who believes being a woman works in Lake’s favor by softening her radical headline stance.
She is against the use of masks and is skeptical about the effectiveness of vaccines against covid-19. In an August interview with The New York Times, he called President Joe Biden “an illegitimate idiot in the White House.”
The results of the 2020 election, questioned by the Trumpist wing, have come under several scrutiny, including one by the Republican Party itself. However, Lake argues that, as governor, she would not hand over protocols certifying Biden’s victory, a role that governors are required to play in the American electoral system.
This, and her promise of electoral reform, is alarming to her critics, who see her as a “threat to democracy.” Others are skeptical and see a chameleon-like trend. “Her transformation is political theater… Now she’s a Christian warrior,” says Richard Stevens, a drag queen from Phoenix who has been friends with Lake for decades.
In June, Stevens posted photos of Barbra Seville with Lake after the candidate made a homophobic post. “She’s a dangerous hypocrite,” says Stevens, who says he even went to the political house for his birthday.
Steve Krafft, a former Fox colleague, also questions his beliefs. “I don’t know if she really believes Trump won the election or if she’s just saying that to win the seat,” he told AFP.
Lake’s profile was center-left, according to Kraft, convinced she was a fan of former President Barack Obama.
The candidate has made financial contributions to the Democratic presidential campaigns of Obama and John Kerry. However, in 2018, his social media posts began to swing to the right. “Around this time, he started complaining about our coverage, going so far as to say we were ‘too harsh’ on the Republicans,” Kraft recalls.
Lake doesn’t see political controversy as a bad thing. “Many have changed their minds,” the candidate said at a news conference in Phoenix. “That’s how [em 2016] We elected Trump as president,” he added.
