GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake claimed Thursday that if former President Trump were reelected, he would quickly “wrap up” the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the war between Israel and Hamas.
“I think when we get President Trump back in the White House, these wars are going to wrap up quickly,” Lake said at a press conference in Phoenix. “And so I really believe that we’re not going to have to be continuing to pour money into endless wars because President Trump is about peace.”
Lake, the Trump-endorsed candidate, narrowly lost the Arizona gubernatorial race in 2022 to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D). A former TV anchor, Lake has challenged her loss to Hobbs, maintaining without evidence that the election was stolen and not secure.
She announced she would run for Senate in October and was immediately endorsed by Trump. Lake is currently running against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) for the seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who has not yet announced whether she will run for reelection.
A strong ally of Trump’s, Lake said Thursday that the former president “was on the verge of bringing us world peace” when he was in office. She highlighted the fact that Trump was “wrapping up wars that he never started,” and he did not “start a single war.”
“And since Joe Biden has been in office, we have all kinds of trouble around the globe. And that’s why we need a strong leader. And President Trump, one who puts America first, knows how to deal with world leaders, and I look forward to that,” Lake said.
Trump has held his stance that if he were reelected, he would “solve” the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Nearly a year ago, Trump said he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which would be “a very easy negotiation.”
Zelensky has pushed back on the claim and has invited Trump on multiple occasions to visit the war’s front line and show him that it isn’t that simple.