Brandon Bell/Getty Images
- Kari Lake, a Republican candidate for Arizona governor, said she "would not have certified" the 2020 election results.
- Former President Trump endorsed Lake after she suggested he should be "added" to Mount Rushmore.
- Lake, a former Phoenix news anchor, has repeatedly echoed Trump's false claims of election fraud.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Arizona Governor candidate Kari Lake, the Republican who recently received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, said she would not have certified the 2020 election results in the state. Trump lost Arizona by over 10,000 votes.
Speaking to the far-right outlet One American News Network, Lake told host Natalie Harp that she would not have certified the 2020 election results. Lake has routinely echoed Trump's baseless claims of election fraud.
"Considering how much already at the time information we had about serious irregularities and problems with the election, I would not have certified it right then," Lake said. Election results are normally certified by the secretary of state, the governor, and other state officials.
During the interview, Harp claimed the election results certified by Ducey "weren't accurate" – a claim that was partially proven true this month after a Republican-led election audit found that Biden actually beat Trump by a few hundred more votes in Arizona than previously thought.
Despite the audit results, Lake said last week that the election was "fraudulent" and "corrupted." Trump made similar claims after the audit results were released, falsely saying they further proved "significant and undeniable evidence of FRAUD!"
"My reaction is we have to make this right. We do not move on from this moment. We do not move on from November 2020 until we make this right," Lake said to OANN September 26, calling for criminal charges against "the people who are involved with this."
On September 28, Trump endorsed Lake, saying she "will do a far better job than RINO Governor Doug Ducey--won't even be a contest!" Ducey lost favor with Trump when he went ahead with certifying the state's presidential election results in late November 2020 while ignoring a phone call from Trump.
Ducey doubled down on his decision on the evening he and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs certified the election results.
"This can ONLY be delayed if counties DECLINE to certify their results. ALL 15 counties in Arizona - counties run by both parties - certified their results," Ducey tweeted on November 30, 2020.
"That's the law. I've sworn an oath to uphold it, and I take my responsibility seriously," he added.