Kari Lake assails Joe Biden on the border, secures support from a top GOP senator

U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake hammered President Joe Biden for what she called lax policies that allow crime committed by migrants on a day when both leading presidential candidates visited the nation’s border with Mexico to discuss security.

“I don’t know why we have laws in Joe Biden’s world. None of the ones that protect us as American citizens are being enforced,” Lake, the Republican Senate front-runner, said during a news conference Thursday in Phoenix. It focused on her top issue, border security, through the prism of crimes against Americans.

Joining her to reinforce the matter — and to deliver his endorsement of her candidacy — was U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who is a leading contender to succeed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the top Republican in the Senate.

It brought another significant endorsement for Lake, who continues to consolidate support behind a candidacy some Republicans initially sought to avoid.

On Thursday, Lake and Barrasso were united in their condemnation of Biden, their support for former President Donald Trump’s reelection and getting Lake into the Senate. Barrasso took a shot at Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is also running for the seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

“This is a crisis that has been created by Joe Biden and the Democrats,” Barrasso said. “And in this race, … the contrast is crystal clear between Kari Lake, who knows what we need to do and will get the job done, and her opponent on the Democrat side of the aisle, who as far as I can tell, doesn’t think there should be any borders.”

Barrasso, who chairs the Republican conference in the Senate and is one of the top members of party leadership, said the country “would be much better and much safer” with Lake in the Senate. He criticized Biden for lacking the “backbone” to strengthen security.

Gallego said Lake has not offered serious solutions to the border situation.

“There has been a crisis along our southern border for years, which is why I supported the bipartisan immigration compromise bill and have long supported hiring and deploying thousands more Border Patrol agents,” Gallego said in a statement to The Arizona Republic. “Kari Lake did not. If she is interested in fixing our border crisis, then why is she playing political games instead of working towards solutions?”

Lake’s daughter held a photo of Laken Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student whom authorities believe was slain last week by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who entered the country 18 months ago and was arrested in New York in September.

“These are the people Joe Biden is letting into our country,” Lake said. She identified two other men charged in crimes in Louisiana and Maryland as further examples of the threat of a porous border combined with law enforcement that allows criminal suspects back on the streets.

“What good are laws if we’re not following them?” Lake said.

Sinema, who has not publicly said whether she intends to run for a second term, played a central role in the bipartisan border security bill that former President Donald Trump, the GOP's presidential front-runner, helped sink to prevent handing Biden an election-year legislative victory.

Lake and Barrasso both opposed the bill.

Biden praised that bill at length during his remarks from El Paso, Texas, on Thursday.

For her part, Sinema tweeted Thursday about the border situation.

“In Arizona, we cannot afford to just move on and pretend the border crisis doesn't exist,” she wrote. “Despite partisanship in Washington, Arizonans can count on me to continue fighting for real solutions to secure our border and keep Arizona safe.”

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb's campaign shrugged off Barrasso’s endorsement. He also is seeking the GOP Senate nomination.

“The people of Arizona will decide this election on their own, without interference or suggestions from the Washington establishment,” said Ed Morabito, a senior adviser to the Lamb campaign.

Lake also picked up the endorsement Thursday of Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, adding to her clutch of GOP Senate endorsements.

By contrast, it was a quiet day for Lamb, who also has made border security his central issue. His campaign had no comment on a day when it was front and center nationally and in Arizona.

Barrasso’s visit to Arizona landed a day after future Republican leadership in the Senate became an open issue following McConnell’s announcement that he would step down as leader after the elections.

Barrasso is a leading contender for McConnell’s post, along with Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2-ranking Republican in the Senate.

Barrasso declined Thursday to discuss his interest in party leadership, saying he wanted to focus on the upcoming elections involving Lake and Trump.

Similarly, Barrasso did not address a question of whether Lake would have trouble gaining the trust of Senate Republicans after she secretly recorded and later released a conversation with the now-former chair of the Arizona Republican Party.

In that March 2023 incident, Jeff DeWit visited Lake at her home to inform her that there were “very powerful people who want to keep you out” of the Senate race. The tape was released 10 months later and toppled DeWit.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake rips Joe Biden on border, is endorsed by Sen. John Barrasso