The Democratic candidate for Arizona governor appeared to freak out when confronted by a Project Veritas sting team in a video released Wednesday.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs fled when Project Veritas Action Press Secretary R.C. Maxwell approached her at a restaurant in central Phoenix.
“Oh, my God,” Hobbs said, as if the presence of someone with a camera amounted to an existential crisis for a woman running in a statewide election.
Maxwell sought to question Hobbs on her unwillingness to discuss policy and governance — with Project Veritas having previously recorded the candidate admitting she disliked publicly discussing the topics.
“You have a great day,” Hobbs said, rising quickly to leave.
Hobbs spilled a soda on the ground as she moved off, leaving a piece of plastic waste on the floor in her bid to flee questions.
“You spilled your soda,” Maxwell told Hobbs.
“Are you going to clean that up, or just leave that here for the business?”
At least this was outdoors.
“I just wanted to ask you about some comments you’ve made on undercover footage regarding having a disdain for discussing politics, ma’am,” Maxwell said.
“Do you recall that, Secretary Hobbs?” Maxwell asked as Hobbs stalked away.
YouTube video of the encounter is below:
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Hobbs entered a restaurant restroom in an apparent attempt to evade questions.
Eventually, campaign consultant Joe Wolf appeared, momentarily engaged with Maxwell, then entered a men’s room himself before knocking on the door of the women’s room to call Hobbs. The two then left.
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Hobbs’ “radio silence” approach to a gubernatorial campaign in one of the hottest swing states in the country isn’t a new development.
The Democrat has flatly refused to debate her Republican opponent, Kari Lake, period.
Footage included in the video appears to reveal an AR-15-style rifle in a car used for Hobbs’ personal transportation.
Wolf has previously admitted that Hobbs would support an “assault weapons” ban if it were politically feasible in sting footage, raising questions of hypocrisy on the part of Hobbs’ rifle-armed campaign. (That comes about the 1:45 mark in the video above.)
It’d be one thing if Hobbs made herself available to media scrutiny, outlined her policies, and appeared for multiple debates to provide Arizonans with transparency.
But she doesn’t.
Hobbs can be heard bluntly stating her refusal to “talk politics to anyone who I don’t know” in one clip of Veritas sting footage, about the 2:05 mark in the video.
But that’s the thing about being the actual governor of a state — you have to conduct politics on the part of people you don’t know.
And discussing politics with “anyone I don’t know” is generally considered a way of communicating with the voters who decide who’s going to represent them.
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Asking Hobbs to explain her unwillingness to do that is an obvious question — whether it’s asked by a reporter or a conservative activist.
What’s not so obvious is why Hobbs wouldn’t answer.
