Clash between Kari Lake and 12 News' Mark Curtis reveals a serious MAGA flaw

The Republican Party gave Kari Lake the podium Tuesday at its national convention in Milwaukee. She used it to skewer the mainstream media.

Pointing one-by-one at the press boxes high in the convention hall, she said, “The guys up in the fake news — you guys have worn out your welcome.”

It was an angry, divisive speech, not uncommon for political conventions. But it seemed out of step with the somber mood post-Pennsylvania and, thus, a natural for 12News anchor Mark Curtis to ask about.

“Kari, thanks for making time for us. We’re just a couple of days removed from an attempted presidential assassination. And in the wake of that, many are calling for a toning down of the rhetoric. A lowering of the temperature across America. Where do you stand on that?”

“I think we need to lower the temperature,” she said.

Then she eagerly turned it up.

An interview with TV news that simmered, then boiled over

“I really put the onus on the media,” she sneered. “The media is the one trying to divide this country. It’s about dividing and making people feel like we’re at each other’s throats.”

The media are big boys. They dish it out, they can stand to take some hits.

But what should have been a cordial interview after her big moment in Milwaukee became a grease fire on Valley television.

By the end, Lake would lose her composure and personally insult Curtis over and over.

If you think the larger race for leadership of this country is over, you need to watch the Curtis-Lake interview and reacquaint yourself with the worst impulse of Trump populism.

But first, let’s set the table.

The Republican summer that powered MAGA

Never forget the summer of 2024, because you aren’t likely to see an American political party enjoy so much good fortune in so compressed a time in such a key hour.

If Donald Trump goes on to win the presidency, these will be the weeks that catalyzed his victory.

On June 27, the Democratic party candidate and sitting president of the United States, showed up for a debate and face-planted on stage.

His performance was so pocked with befuddlement that he touched off a movement in his own party to replace him on the ticket.

That intraparty battle was still growing when Republican candidate Donald Trump spoke in rural Pennsylvania on July 13 and narrowly escaped a sniper’s bullet.

With blood streaming down his cheek, Trump lifted his fist in defiance and created what will become one of the most memorable images in American history — a picture that actually framed Trump’s courage in red, white and blue.

Think of it.

The table is set for a second Trump presidency

In that chaotic and random aftermath real life had produced one of those garish posters you see all across the internet in which Trump is thrusting out his chest and raising his gaze like Washington crossing the Delaware.

Now one poll shows Trump leading in all seven battleground states, and an unnamed senior Democratic has told Axios, "We've all resigned ourselves to a second Trump presidency."

If things weren’t bad enough for Democrats, soon they will convene their own convention in Chicago, where awaits an expected hellscape of masked protesters, Palestinian flags and calls for the continued slaughter of Israeli Jews.

The Republicans can’t lose, can they?

Oh, yes, they can.

Interview exposes the weed in MAGA's bed of roses

Mark Curtis did what journalists are supposed to do. He asked Kari Lake challenging questions.

“You chose to attack the media, rather than talk about coming together as a country,” Curtis said to Lake. “Don’t you think rhetoric like that is also damaging?”

“Sadly,” Lake retorted, "you guys want to keep stoking hatred toward the people who are with President Trump.”

Curtis pushed back, “You talk about the fake news, but one election lawsuit after another has failed. At what point does your narrative become fake news?”

“I’m glad to know that you don’t care about election integrity,” she said.

Lake displays the ugly side of MAGA by going personal

“Of course I do,” Curtis said, “but how many times do I need it to be disproven?”

Said Lake, “We’re continuing to fight because we want our future elections, including the one in November, to be run fairly."

Then Lake made a Trump move. She made it personal.

“I know where your ratings are. They’re absolutely horrible. I don’t know how you guys keep the lights on. I don’t know how you pay your paycheck. Probably way too much.”

She laughed.

She met journalistic professionalism with furor and disdain

Undeterred, Curtis asked how JD Vance so quickly converted from Trump critic to Trump’s running mate.

“People are waking up and they’re recognizing how disgusting and fake the news is," Lake said. "Every question you’ve asked has been negative, Mark.

“Why do you hate President Trump … and why do you hate Republicans?”

Understand, Mark Curtis is no flamethrower. He’s person of real decency and mannered understatement. If he has revealed a political bias in his reporting and social media posts, it is gentle center-left with plenty of moments in which he has agreed with conservatives.

He treated Lake with professionalism and respect, and she responded with bile.

One final punch below the belt before Lake finished interview

As Curtis tried to ask one last question, Lake said, “Your producer is telling me to wrap it up. I hope you’ll wake up and stop accepting a paycheck to lie to the people of Arizona.”

Donald Trump has this same quality. When expedient, punch below the belt.

MAGA can still lose this election.

Because even though Americans love a good fight, they despise the people who fight dirty.

Phil Boas is an editorial columnist with The Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lake shows MAGA's repulsive side in 12 News interview