Kari Lake calls Steve Bannon a ‘modern day George Washington’ in surprise Arizona rally appearance

Arizona Republican Kari Lake lauded Donald Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon as a “modern-day George Washington” as he made a surprise appearance to campaign for her in the state.

The right-wing former TV anchor is involved in a competitive race with Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, to be the state’s governor.

“I want you to meet and give a big Arizona welcome to one of my favorite guys in the world, one of the most patriotic men I know, I call him a modern-day George Washington, Steve Bannon,” she told a crowd on Tuesday night.

Ms Lake is a pro-Trump Republican who has supported the one-term president’s lies about 2020 election fraud.

After he was brought out on stage, Mr Bannon told the crowd that “Arizona has a rendezvous with destiny” on election day next week.

“It started here back in November of 2020. It started right here. And it’s going to end right here,” he told the crowd.

Mr Bannon, who is also an election denier, has been sentenced to four months in prison after being convicted of defying a subpoena from the January 6 House select committee probing the attack on the US Capitol.

Earlier this week, Ms Lake drew a big laugh from her supporters as she made a joke about the brutal hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.

“It is not impossible to protect our kids at school, they act like it is. Nancy Pelosi, well, she’s got protection when she’s in DC, apparently, her house doesn’t have a lot of protection,” she said.