The Oklahoma bigot backed by Kari Lake is no different from her bigoted buddies in Arizona

Sorry, but I am genuinely puzzled by the outrage directed at Kari Lake, Republican candidate for Arizona governor, over her endorsement of a homophobic, white nationalist legislative candidate from Oklahoma who also believes that “the Jews” are evidence that “evil exists.”

Seriously, what’s the big deal?

Jarrin Jackson, the Republican candidate for Oklahoma state Senate, is convinced there is a national (or is it international?) conspiracy to “get rid of white people” and that “LGTBQ is the gateway to pedophilia,” along with a whole bunch of equally unhinged, vile beliefs.

So, naturally, that guy gets an endorsement from Kari Lake.

Don't ignore our homegrown kooks

And then he thanks her in a tweet, saying, “I am honored to be endorsed by the #AmericaFirst (and Trump-endorsed) warrior who drained the McCain swamp in Arizona and is now the GOP nominee for governor in Arizona – Kari Lake. She is a rising star and her endorsement is a big deal! Thank you, Kari!”

What I can’t figure out is why her endorsement surprises anyone.

Or why, suddenly, there is a growing sense of outrage.

Has everyone overlooked the bigoted buddies Lake has supported, and who are supporting her, right here in Arizona?

Another view: What if Katie Hobbs is incapable of stopping Lake?

For the longest time she’s been swimming in the same cesspool as, say, Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, a wackadoodle conspiracy kook who is cozy with white nationalists, believes her personally designated “traitors” should be publicly hanged, promotes QAnon lunacy, backed Alex Jones over the parents of murdered children in Sandy Hook, and has tweeted a photo of her next to a dead rhino branded with the Star of David that read, “I stand with the Christians worldwide not the global bankers who are shoving godlessness and degeneracy in our face.”

They're all swimming in the same cesspool

How is that not just as repulsive as the Oklahoma dude?

Rogers endorsed Jarrin Jackson as well, by the way. So, too, did Republican Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem, a Big Lie spreading member of the Oath Keepers. You know, that club of cranks whose leader and others are now facing seditious conspiracy charges over the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Lake is political pals with Finchem, too. As well as with the rest of the Republican slate, including Big Lie spreader Abe Hamadeh and U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, a believer as well in the plot to replace white people.

Kari Lake said a while back that she “absolutely denounces bigotry in all its forms, especially antisemitism.”

The easiest way to judge character

Sure she does.

That kind of talk is right out of the playbook of her Dear Leader – Donald Trump. Say one thing, do another.

Lake saying she denounces bigotry and then backing Jarrin Jackson should not surprise us. There is an old saying, something you probably heard from your parents or a teacher or a coach, that puts situations like this in plain English. It goes:

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are.”

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake endorsed Jarrin Jackson. Don't be surprised