Republican Kari Lake told the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday that earlier in the week, she was offered a bribe to get out of politics.
Lake has waged a four-month battle against the results of last year’s election for Arizona governor, which she lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs. So far, courts have rejected Lake’s legal challenges, although she has appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court.
At CPAC, she was the front-running in a straw poll for who among 28 names should be the GOP vice presidential candidate in 2024, according to The Hill. With 20 percent of the vote, she led Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley who received 10 percent of the vote.
During her speech, she talked about what it means to be a disruptive outsider in American politics.
“I can’t believe this actually happened. I wasn’t sure if I was going to share it here at CPAC I wonder if the fake news will even cover it,” she said.
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She said she received a call from a person who said a face-to-face conversation was essential.
“They came to my door and they tried to bribe me out of getting out of politics,” she said. “This really happened. I’m telling you this because this is how disgusting politics is. A mom who runs for office and they’re afraid of me?”
“They tried to bribe me with a job title, with a huge salary, a position on a board,” she said. “This is how they do it. And I said, ‘Are you kidding me? I walked away from a big job and a big salary. I’m not motivated by that stuff, guys. I’m not.’”
Last week, somebody came to her house and tried to buy @KariLake out of politics.
But @KariLake can’t be bought.
“There is no price that I would sell out my country for.” pic.twitter.com/QGIccw1gLC
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 4, 2023
Do you think most politicians can be bought?
Yes: 0% (0 Votes)
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“So this person standing before me was sent at the request of some powerful people back East,” she said. “They want me out of politics. But wait a minute, I thought already stopped us? Why are they so afraid, I thought they already stopped our movement.”
“And when I said no to this person, they didn’t take no for an answer. They said, ‘Well what will it take? What is your price? How do we keep you out? Name your price,’” she said.
She said all she was asked to do was to be out of politics for the next two years before asking the crowd if she should walk away for two years, to which members of the audience sounded a resounding, “No.”
“Or should we double down and stay in this?” she asked as the crowd cheered its approval and Lake added, “Double down.”
Lake then shared her reply.
“So I said, ‘You let your handlers back East know that I can’t name a price because there is no price that I will sell out my country for,” Lake said.
Lake said the incident told her “that they do not want my name on the ballot again. And I have a message. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere.”
She said the incident “shows how desperate these people are to stop me, and to silence you.”
Amid cheers, Lake said, “I don’t what the future holds. I’m just on God’s time right now.”
During a Friday night speech, Lake took aim at Hillary Clinton, according to the Daily Mail.
“I’m not trying to be mean here. Has anybody noticed that she’s looking more and more like George Soros?” she said. “I know they think alike, but they’re starting to look alike — it’s like an old married couple, they’re starting to look alike.’”
